GEORGE NEWS - Crime might be down overall, but a dramatic rise in attempted murders for all four police stations in the George area is painting a far more troubling picture of violent crime on the ground.

While the Garden Route recorded a 5.3% decline in its 17 community-reported serious crimes between April and June this year, attempted murders more than doubled from 48 to 98 cases.

The picture is even bleaker across George, Thembalethu, Pacaltsdorp and Conville, where attempted murders jumped from eight to 25, an increase of 212.5%.

Pacaltsdorp accounted for much of the increase, with attempted murder cases rising from one to 10. Robbery with aggravating circumstances also increased from 12 to 19.

At George Police Station, attempted murders rose from two to five, while robbery with aggravating circumstances climbed from 12 to 23. Common robbery more than tripled, from 10 to 33.

Conville also recorded a sharp increase in attempted murder, from none last year to five this year, while murders doubled from two to four.

Thembalethu recorded 10 murders, down from 11, but rape increased from 18 to 23 and sexual assault from three to seven. Cases of illegal possession of firearms and ammunition also increased sevenfold, from one to seven.

The figures come as overall crime numbers in the district are dropping. The Garden Route’s contact crime decreased by 5.5%, while common assault dropped by 13.3%, assault with intent to inflict grievous bodily harm (GBH) by 7.4% and residential burglary by 8.7%.

Yet drug-related crime moved in the opposite direction, increasing by 11% from 2 449 to 2 719 cases across the district.

In George, drug-related cases fell from 239 to 204, and commercial crime dropped sharply from 185 to 83. 

The station’s reported serious crimes also decreased from 870 to 850.

The contrasting figures support an argument increasingly being made for localised policing, where resources are directed according to the specific crime patterns emerging in individual communities. 

Action Society spokesperson Juanita du Preez says the latest Western Cape figures strengthen the case for this approach.

Although murder in the province fell by 6.7% and contact crime by 6.3%, Du Preez points to significant reductions at police stations supported by the Law Enforcement Advancement Plan (Leap), as well as a 17.8% decrease in gang-related murders and attempted murders.

“The Western Cape is still facing an extreme murder and gang violence crisis, but these results show what becomes possible when policing is directed by local crime patterns,” Du Preez says.

She argues that police capacity should follow crime as it shifts between communities, with officers, detectives, crime intelligence, vehicles and investigative support directed towards identified hotspots.

“Crime happens locally, victims live locally and criminal networks operate locally,” she says.

The argument is particularly relevant in the George area, where the overall number of serious crimes has remained relatively stable or declined, while some of the most serious violent crimes have increased sharply.

Across the four stations, murders increased marginally from 16 to 17, while attempted murders more than tripled.

Property-related crime also increased from 429 to 479 cases, an 11.7% rise.

Nationally, the first quarter of the 2026/27 financial year saw 5 427 murders and 6 958 attempted murders recorded, an average of 60 murders and 77 attempted murders every day.

Du Preez says these national figures are too high to treat every police station and community as though they face the same threat. “Capacity must follow crime. Authority should sit close enough to the problem for those responsible to be held accountable for the results,” she says.

This raises the question of whether our policing resources are keeping pace with where violence is actually increasing.

Western Cape murder rate falls

The Western Cape recorded a 6.7% decrease in murders, from 1 148 cases in April to June 2025 to 1 071 in the same period this year, compared with a 5.9% national decline.

Murders across the six Law Enforcement Advancement Plan (LEAP) deployment areas fell by 17%, with Gugulethu recording a 33% decrease and Delft a 24% decrease.

Attempted murders in the province also declined slightly, by 1.5%, from 1 056 to 1 040, while overall contact crime fell by 6.3%.

Premier Alan Winde and Western Cape Minister of Police Oversight and Community Safety Anroux Marais welcomed the reductions but stressed that violence remains unacceptably high. Winde said the figures demonstrate the value of co-operative, locally managed and intelligence-led policing, and called for proven interventions to be expanded.

Marais highlighted the importance of community involvement, saying residents play a key role in helping authorities identify criminal activity and recover firearms, ammunition and drugs.

This provides an interesting contrast with the George-area figures in your story: while the Western Cape recorded a slight decline in attempted murders, George, Thembalethu, Pacaltsdorp and Conville collectively recorded a 212.5% increase.

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