Note to Editors: Please note Riona Gokool, MPL sound bite in English
KwaZulu-Natal’s (KZN) residents are once again confronted by crime statistics which confirm what they already experience daily – lives lived in fear as violent crime remains deeply entrenched in our province.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) maintains that crime is not just one item on the agenda – crime is the agenda. Economic growth, job creation and investment cannot thrive in an environment where residents, businesses and commuters do not feel safe.
We therefore reiterate the urgent need for lifestyle audits within SAPS leadership and high-risk police units. Corruption within law enforcement continues to undermine public trust and weakens the fight against organised crime. Honest police officers are being failed by a system that too often protects politically connected criminals and corrupt officials.
While the latest SAPS statistics – from January to March 2026 – show a national decrease in certain crime categories, the reality is that KZN continues to account for one of the highest shares of violent crime in South Africa.
The province remains among the top contributors to murders and organised crime, with a murder rate of 8.8 per 100 000 people for the quarter. The continued prevalence of extortion, hijackings, drug syndicates and violent robberies shows that criminal networks are still operating with confidence.
These statistics cannot become another quarterly exercise in numbers and speeches. Behind every statistic is a grieving family, a traumatised victim, and communities whose quality of life is being destroyed by lawlessness.
As a committed partner within KZN’s Government of Provincial Unity (GPU), the DA supports Premier Thami Ntuli’s crime initiatives and recognises the importance of cooperative governance. We will support practical, results-driven interventions that strengthen policing capacity, improve detective work, and restore visible policing in crime hotspots.
We call for the urgent passing of the DA’s SAPS Amendment Bill in parliament, to allow capable provincial and local governments to play a greater role in crime prevention and policing oversight.
KZN’s people deserve to live in a province where the rule of law is upheld, ethical policing is supported and criminals fear the state again.