ZWELITSHA, Eastern Cape – The OR Tambo policing district was flagged as one of the three most problematic districts in the Eastern Cape, contributing the most in murder, attempted murder and sexual offences in a list of five contact crimes by Community Safety MEC, Xolile Nqatha.
Nqatha was delivering the first and second quarter 2025/2026 crime statistics in Zwelitsha, the police provincial headquarters, on Tuesday, 10 February.
He said the 17 communities reported serious crimes decreased across the province by 1 491 cases. Nelson Mandela contributed 20.6% – a 15.6% decrease, Buffalo City contributed 19.4% – down 6% and OR Tambo contributed 15%, up 1.8%. The top five stations identified as hotspots in 17 communities that reported serious crimes are East London, Mthatha, Cambridge, Mount Road, and Kabega Park.
READ MORE HERE: SANDF deployment to Eastern Cape crime hotspots within nine days
Crimes that showed increases under the contact crimes category are rape with 7.2% and attempted sexual assault with 13.7%. Other crimes that decreased are common robbery with 3%, murder with 21.5% and attempted murder with 16.2%. Aggravated robberies went down 20%, carjacking by 15.4%, and business robberies were less 27.7%.
“The districts that contributed most to contact crimes in the Eastern Cape are Nelson Mandela District with a contribution of 19.2% while depicting a decrease of 22.0%, Buffalo City District with a contribution of 17.5% and depicting a decrease of 6.6% and OR Tambo District with a contribution of 17.1%, indicating a decrease of 1.3%,” Nqatha said.
The top five stations identified as hotspots in contact crimes were Mthatha, East London, Lusikisiki, KwaZakele and Mdantsane.
He said the total number of sexual offences reported increased by 16 cases to a total of 1,931 in the province. Nqatha said rape increased by 7.2% and attempted sexual offences went up 113.7%, with contact sexual offenses going down 7.7% and sexual assault decreasing by 15.6%. Of these crimes, he said, OR Tambo was a frontrunner at 21.8%, Amathole at 20.5% and Sarah Baartman at 15.4%.
“The top five stations identified as hotspots in rape crimes are Lusikisiki with five cases, Mthatha with 12 cases, Ngqeleni with 17 cases, Mbizana with 20 cases, and Tsolo with 26. Burglary at non-residential premises dropped 1.2%, at residential premises they were down 1.5%, and of motor vehicles and motorcycles decreased 29.1%.”
Nqatha said theft from motor vehicles decreased by 7.6%, and stock theft went down 2.5%. OR Tambo showed an increase of 11.1% in this category of crime, recording 16.4% at third place after Buffalo City and Nelson Mandela districts.
The top five stations identified as hotspots in property-related crimes were East London with 21 reported cases, Cambridge with 28 and Mthatha with 30 cases. “In conclusion, the most problematic districts in the Eastern Cape are Nelson Mandela Bay, Buffalo City and OR Tambo districts. These districts contribute the most to murder, attempted murder, assault, robbery and sexual offences in the Eastern Cape,” Nqatha said.
