Global vs National sources
The data displayed on the global map are based on global and regional news sources only. For South Africa, in addition to global and regional newspapers, national sources were consulted.
Click on Add National Sources button below if you would like to add these data in this page analysis.
*Please note that when adding national sources, the cross-country comparison will not be available.
- geographic analysis
- global
- Africa
- Southern Africa
South Africa
15 cases Global sources
Assassinations in South Africa were mainly driven by hits in the context of the transport minibus-taxi industry. These are hits connected to disputes over lucrative route allocations and between taxi associations (industry bodies that represent taxi owners). The private sector accounts for the largest proportion of all target groups in South Africa, which also reflects the link between assassinations and the minibus-taxi industry. Killings of law enforcement personnel and environmental crime -related killings were also recorded in the dataset.
Main statistics
Motive
6 (40%)
Political
Target Group
4 (27%)
Local community
Gender
11 (73%)
Male
Method
12 (80%)
Shot
Number of cases over time
Distribution of case numbers by category
target group
target group
motive
motive
method
method
perpetrator
perpetrator
gender
gender
Explore other country analysis
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reported","slug":"not_reported","count":11,"id":1,"dates":{"2019":{"3":1,"6":2,"8":1,"10":1,"11":1,"12":1},"2020":{"9":3,"10":1}}},"hitmen":{"name":"Hitmen","slug":"hitmen","count":2,"id":5,"dates":{"2020":{"1":1,"9":1}}},"organized_crime":{"name":"Organized crime","slug":"organized_crime","count":2,"id":3,"dates":{"2019":{"12":1},"2020":{"4":1}}}},"sum":15,"mapped":{"not_reported":11,"hitmen":2,"organized_crime":2},"top":{"name":"Not 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Male","slug":"fm","count":1,"id":4,"dates":{"2020":{"9":1}}},"transgender":{"name":"transgender","slug":"transgender","count":1,"id":5,"dates":{"2019":{"3":1}}}},"sum":15,"mapped":{"m":11,"f":2,"fm":1,"transgender":1},"top":{"name":"Male","slug":"m","count":11,"id":1,"dates":{"2019":{"6":1,"8":1,"10":1,"11":1,"12":2},"2020":{"1":1,"4":1,"9":3}}}},"d":{"years":{"2019":{"3":{"count":1,"list":{"transgender":1}},"6":{"count":2,"list":{"f":1,"m":1}},"8":{"count":1,"list":{"m":1}},"10":{"count":1,"list":{"m":1}},"11":{"count":1,"list":{"m":1}},"12":{"count":2,"list":{"m":2}}},"2020":{"1":{"count":1,"list":{"m":1}},"4":{"count":1,"list":{"m":1}},"9":{"count":4,"list":{"fm":1,"m":3}},"10":{"count":1,"list":{"f":1}}}},"max":4},"t":"The database records each assassination (or assassination attempt) as one event. In cases where more than one person (of different gender) was targeted, the database recorded the gender of each targeted victim"}}
Time series
target group
Jan
Feb
Mar
target group
Mar-2019
Mar-2019
1 cases
- Local community (1)
Apr
May
Jun
target group
Jun-2019
Jun-2019
2 cases
- Private sector (2)
Jul
Aug
target group
Aug-2019
Aug-2019
1 cases
- Politics & governance (1)
Set
Oct
target group
Oct-2019
Oct-2019
1 cases
- Criminal justice (1)
Nov
target group
Nov-2019
Nov-2019
1 cases
- Illicit market (1)
Dec
target group
Dec-2019
Dec-2019
2 cases
- Not reported (1)
- Illicit market (1)
2019
Jan
target group
Jan-2020
Jan-2020
1 cases
- Local community (1)
Feb
Mar
Apr
target group
Apr-2020
Apr-2020
1 cases
- Not reported (1)
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Set
target group
Set-2020
Set-2020
4 cases
- Security (2)
- Politics & governance (1)
- Local community (1)
Oct
target group
Oct-2020
Oct-2020
1 cases
- Local community (1)
Nov
Dec
2020
Time series
motive
Jan
Feb
Mar
motive
Mar-2019
Mar-2019
1 cases
- Political (1)
Apr
May
Jun
motive
Jun-2019
Jun-2019
2 cases
- Organized crime (1)
- Political (1)
Jul
Aug
motive
Aug-2019
Aug-2019
1 cases
- Economic (1)
Set
Oct
motive
Oct-2019
Oct-2019
1 cases
- Political (1)
Nov
motive
Nov-2019
Nov-2019
1 cases
- Organized crime (1)
Dec
motive
Dec-2019
Dec-2019
2 cases
- Not reported (1)
- Organized crime (1)
2019
Jan
motive
Jan-2020
Jan-2020
1 cases
- Personal (1)
Feb
Mar
Apr
motive
Apr-2020
Apr-2020
1 cases
- Not reported (1)
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Set
motive
Set-2020
Set-2020
4 cases
- Organized crime (2)
- Political (2)
Oct
motive
Oct-2020
Oct-2020
1 cases
- Political (1)
Nov
Dec
2020
Time series
method
Jan
Feb
Mar
method
Mar-2019
Mar-2019
1 cases
- Stabbed (1)
Apr
May
Jun
method
Jun-2019
Jun-2019
2 cases
- Suffocated (1)
- Shot (1)
Jul
Aug
method
Aug-2019
Aug-2019
1 cases
- Shot (1)
Set
Oct
method
Oct-2019
Oct-2019
1 cases
- Shot (1)
Nov
method
Nov-2019
Nov-2019
1 cases
- Shot (1)
Dec
method
Dec-2019
Dec-2019
2 cases
- Shot (2)
2019
Jan
method
Jan-2020
Jan-2020
1 cases
- Not reported (1)
Feb
Mar
Apr
method
Apr-2020
Apr-2020
1 cases
- Shot (1)
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Set
method
Set-2020
Set-2020
4 cases
- Shot (4)
Oct
method
Oct-2020
Oct-2020
1 cases
- Shot (1)
Nov
Dec
2020
Time series
perpetrator
Jan
Feb
Mar
perpetrator
Mar-2019
Mar-2019
1 cases
- Not reported (1)
Apr
May
Jun
perpetrator
Jun-2019
Jun-2019
2 cases
- Not reported (2)
Jul
Aug
perpetrator
Aug-2019
Aug-2019
1 cases
- Not reported (1)
Set
Oct
perpetrator
Oct-2019
Oct-2019
1 cases
- Not reported (1)
Nov
perpetrator
Nov-2019
Nov-2019
1 cases
- Not reported (1)
Dec
perpetrator
Dec-2019
Dec-2019
2 cases
- Organized crime (1)
- Not reported (1)
2019
Jan
perpetrator
Jan-2020
Jan-2020
1 cases
- Hitmen (1)
Feb
Mar
Apr
perpetrator
Apr-2020
Apr-2020
1 cases
- Organized crime (1)
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Set
perpetrator
Set-2020
Set-2020
4 cases
- Hitmen (1)
- Not reported (3)
Oct
perpetrator
Oct-2020
Oct-2020
1 cases
- Not reported (1)
Nov
Dec
2020
Time series
gender
Jan
Feb
Mar
gender
Mar-2019
Mar-2019
1 cases
- transgender (1)
Apr
May
Jun
gender
Jun-2019
Jun-2019
2 cases
- Female (1)
- Male (1)
Jul
Aug
gender
Aug-2019
Aug-2019
1 cases
- Male (1)
Set
Oct
gender
Oct-2019
Oct-2019
1 cases
- Male (1)
Nov
gender
Nov-2019
Nov-2019
1 cases
- Male (1)
Dec
gender
Dec-2019
Dec-2019
2 cases
- Male (2)
2019
Jan
gender
Jan-2020
Jan-2020
1 cases
- Male (1)
Feb
Mar
Apr
gender
Apr-2020
Apr-2020
1 cases
- Male (1)
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Set
gender
Set-2020
Set-2020
4 cases
- Female & Male (1)
- Male (3)
Oct
gender
Oct-2020
Oct-2020
1 cases
- Female (1)