According to the recent crime stat released on Friday morning, which made reference to the crime rates from July 2021 to September 2021, Police officials listed and confirmed ‘top murder hot-spots’.

Phoenix, KZN is the clearest example: Usually, the town wouldn’t get a sniff on a list like this. But, following the vigilante killings that shocked the nation in July, it’s now placed 14th on the murder hot-spot list – after witnessing a horrific spike of 225%. Only Verulam, which saw murders rocket by 230% in the last quarter, can top that.

Predictably, KZN features heavily on the list – three of the top five hot-spots are based in the province. Plessislaer and Umlazi have seen their murder rates soar, but it is Inanda – which reported a whopping 92 murders in this previous three month period – that takes its very unenviable place at the top of the list. Murders have increased by 58% here.

However, the Western Cape – and the Cape Flats in particular – occupy a majority of places in the top 10: Delft, Mfuleni, and Kraaifontein have all seen killings soar over the winter, with Harare, Khayelitsha, and Nyanga maintaining their notoriety despite all recording a fall in murders for the second quarter.

Atteridgeville, Gauteng (13th), and Mthatha, Eastern Cape (18th) are the worst murder hot-spots in their respective provinces. Furthermore, none of the other five provincial districts feature on this list.

Samora Machel in the Western Cape is the only location that has recorded zero change – and exactly 37 murders have been documented here in the past three quarters.

See chart below: