Official data released on Sunday by the Democratic Alliance (DA) reveals that approximately two-thirds of murder cases in South Africa remain unsolved, underscoring significant challenges in the nation’s law enforcement.

Between the 2018-2019 financial year and December 2023, police closed over 76,000 of nearly 115,000 recorded murder cases without resolution. Lisa Schickerling, the DA’s deputy spokeswoman on police matters, described this figure as "strikingly high."

The shortfall is largely attributed to a severe shortage of trained detectives, exacerbated by chronic underfunding. Schickerling highlighted that detectives are overwhelmed, each handling between 350 and 500 cases.

The problem extends beyond murders. Over the same period, more than 61,000 rape cases and 9,000 kidnapping cases were also closed without resolution, as revealed by data provided to the DA by the police minister in response to a parliamentary inquiry. Schickerling called the situation “a deplorable state of affairs that requires urgent intervention.”

South Africa’s crime rates are among the highest globally, with nearly 84 murders recorded daily between October and December last year.

The DA, long the main opposition party, now participates in a broad coalition government led by the African National Congress, which lost its absolute majority for the first time in 30 years in the May elections.

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