Overview: A Persistent Challenge from Gangs and State Complicity
South Africa continues to confront a complex web of organized crime, where criminal groups operate with varying levels of sophistication and reach. The 2025 Africa Organised Crime Index highlights how state-embedded actors and governance weaknesses create fertile ground for gangs to thrive. Rather than a single, uniform threat, the landscape features multiple networks that span traditional street gangs, large-scale syndicates, and illicit economies linked to corruption within certain government and security institutions.
This analysis focuses on the active groups and the ways in which state players—notably some officials, procurement gatekeepers, and security forces—contribute to the persistence and expansion of criminal activity. Understanding these dynamics is essential for policymakers, law enforcement, and civil society aiming to break cycles of violence and impunity.
Active Gangs and Networks in the South African Context
The country hosts a spectrum of organized crime groups, each with distinct foci and operational styles. Among the best-documented are:
- Numbers gangs (including 26s, 27s, and 28s): These long-standing criminal networks rely on coded hierarchies, territorial control, and extortion. They often intersect with street crime, drug trafficking, and protection rackets, adapting to urban and peri-urban environments.
- Drug trafficking networks: With demand for narcotics rising in certain communities, organized groups coordinate import, distribution, and local distribution points. Corruption can facilitate movement through checkpoints or licensed channels, complicating enforcement.
- Illegal mining and precious-metal syndicates: In some regions, illicit mining activities fuel violence and revenue streams for organized factions, sometimes entwined with legitimate supply chains and front companies.
- Illicit logging and wildlife crime networks: While less visible, these networks exploit regulatory gaps and enforcement blind spots in rural areas, contributing to biodiversity loss and revenue for criminal actors.
These groups do not operate in isolation. They frequently form alliances or overlap with other illicit economies, including smuggling, card-skimming, and cyber-enabled fraud. The most pressing characteristic is their adaptability and the way they leverage local grievances, poverty, and unemployment to recruit and expand.
How State Actors Are Interacting with Gangs
The 2025 index emphasizes a troubling pattern: corruption, weak governance, and insufficient oversight enable criminal actors to consolidate power or avoid accountability. Key pathways include:
- Corruption within procurement and licensing: Bribery and procurement irregularities can create protection networks for illicit suppliers, facilitating the movement of contraband and the laundering of proceeds through legitimate channels.
- Guarded or ineffective policing: In some areas, limited resources, operational constraints, or compromised integrity undermine effective policing, allowing gangs to operate with relative impunity or to coerce witnesses and communities.
- Judicial and border weaknesses: Delays, backlogs, and inconsistent enforcement create opportunities for repeat offenders and cross-border trafficking, enabling criminal networks to scale their activities.
- Municipal and local governance gaps: Fragmented oversight, limited inter-agency coordination, and political patronage can hinder timely anti-crime responses, particularly in urban peripheries and informal settlements.
State actors can inadvertently support criminal activity by turning a blind eye to red flags, engaging in petty corruption, or failing to implement reforms that would reduce crime incentives. Conversely, when authorities are capable, transparent, and well-resourced, many of these networks become harder to sustain, and violence associated with gang competition can decline.
Strategic Responses and the Path Forward
Experts emphasize a multi-pronged approach. Strengthening anti-corruption mechanisms, improving inter-agency information sharing, and investing in community-led safety initiatives are critical components. Additionally, addressing underlying drivers such as unemployment, lack of educational opportunities, and poverty reduces the supply of new recruits to gangs and helps communities resist coercive networks.
International cooperation remains important for cross-border crime and currency flows tied to organized networks. Robust governance, independent oversight, and civic engagement can help restore trust and accountability, making it harder for criminals to exploit state systems.
Bottom Line
The 2025 Africa Organised Crime Index underscores that the fight against organized crime in South Africa cannot be won by policing alone. A combination of strong governance, targeted enforcement against corruption, community resilience, and regional cooperation is essential to disrupt active gangs and diminish the state-enabled avenues that sustain them.
