Bulletin 2026-09UCDP data through GED 26.1, Candidate Events 26.0.9Changes in the data

ConflictStats

Events and deaths in organized violence, as UCDP records them

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South Africa: events and estimated deaths in May 2026

Monthly reportDataset: UCDP Candidate Events, preliminaryData through

Search engines are asked not to list this page. They list a monthly report when three things are true. The page of the country is listed. The month is one of the last 12 months. The month has 20 or more events.

UCDP recorded 9 eventsP of organized violence in South Africa in May 2026. The best estimate of deaths in these events is 29P. The low estimate is 29 and the high estimate is 32P. UCDP counts 3P of these deaths as deaths of civilians. The count for April 2026 was 4 eventsP.

UCDP recorded no events in May 2025. Among the 14 months with a report for South Africa, May 2026 has the 8th highest count of events. South Africa holds 1 percentP of the events that UCDP recorded in all countries with a page in May 2026. In May 2025, the share was 0 percent.

P Preliminary. The figure is from UCDP Candidate Events, and UCDP revises these events.

Not all events in UCDP Candidate will make it into the final UCDP GED and new events will be added. The UCDP Candidate is a dataset containing events that have a high probability of being included in the final annual version of UCDP GED.

An incident where armed force was used by an organized actor against another organized actor, or against civilians, resulting in at least 1 direct death at a specific location and a specific date

UCDP's words. Source: UCDP Candidate Events Dataset Codebook, version 1.5 (Introduction) and UCDP GED Codebook, version 26.1 (section 2, the definition of an event), copied on .

This page rests on UCDP GED 26.1 and UCDP Candidate Events 26.0.9, with data through . The figures from January 2026 are from Candidate Events. Candidate Events are preliminary and UCDP revises them.

The pages give counts and their sources. They give no travel, security or safety advice. A count of events is not a measure of danger.

Regions

The table has 10 regions at most.

Table 1. South Africa, May 2026: events and estimated deaths by region, in name order
RegionEventsPEstimated deathsP
Eastern Cape province15
Western Cape province824

P Preliminary. The figure is from UCDP Candidate Events, and UCDP revises these events.

Figure 1. Events in South Africa, May 2026. The map shows 9 events with 29 estimated deaths. One dot is one event at the place that UCDP gives. When a source names no exact place, UCDP puts the event at the centre of a region or of the country. The area of a dot follows the best estimate of deaths. The largest dot is for 330 deaths or more.1 death10 deaths100 deathsOutlines: Natural Earth, with the first-level areas of the UCDP data. An outline shows where the events are. It is not a statement about a border.

Events

The table lists each event of the month. The CSV file of South Africa has each event.

Table 2. South Africa, May 2026: the events of the month, in the order of their dates
DatePlaceSides, as UCDP writes themType of violenceEstimated deathsPLowHigh
4 May 2026City of Cape Town municipality, Western Cape provinceAmericans; Fancy BoysNon-state111
13 May 2026City of Cape Town municipality, Western Cape provinceActor not identified by UCDP; Actor not identified by UCDPNon-state222
16 May 2026City of Cape Town municipality, Western Cape provinceActor not identified by UCDP; Actor not identified by UCDPNon-state444
18 May 2026City of Cape Town municipality, Western Cape provinceActor not identified by UCDP; Actor not identified by UCDPNon-state111
22 May 2026Cape Winelands municipality, Western Cape provinceActor not identified by UCDP; Actor not identified by UCDPNon-state777
24 May 2026City of Cape Town municipality, Western Cape provinceActor not identified by UCDP; Actor not identified by UCDPNon-state333
25 May 2026City of Cape Town municipality, Western Cape provinceActor not identified by UCDP; Actor not identified by UCDPNon-state333
27 May 2026Nelson Mandela Bay municipality, Eastern Cape provinceActor not identified by UCDP; Actor not identified by UCDPNon-state555
29 May 2026Eden district municipality, Western Cape provinceMarch and March, Operation Dudula; CiviliansOne-sided336

P Preliminary. The figure is from UCDP Candidate Events, and UCDP revises these events.

Names are as UCDP writes them, with two labels that the site writes. UCDP does not identify some actors: the site writes "Actor not identified by UCDP" for each of them. UCDP names some groups for a person: the site writes "Group named for a person (name not shown)" for each of them. A line with a label can hold more than one actor.

Actors, as UCDP names them

Names as UCDP writes them.

Table 3. South Africa: actors, as UCDP names them, in the events of May 2026, in name order
Name, as UCDP writes itEventsEstimated deaths in these events
Actor not identified by UCDP7P25P
Americans1P1P
Fancy Boys1P1P
March and March, Operation Dudula1P3P

An event has two sides, so one event can be in two rows. The deaths are the deaths in the events of a side. The table does not say which side caused a death. Names are as UCDP writes them, with two labels that the site writes. UCDP does not identify some actors: the site writes "Actor not identified by UCDP" for each of them. UCDP names some groups for a person: the site writes "Group named for a person (name not shown)" for each of them. A line with a label can hold more than one actor.

P Preliminary. The figure is from UCDP Candidate Events, and UCDP revises these events.

Type of violence

Table 4. South Africa: events by type of violence, May 2026
Type of violenceEventsShare of events
State-based armed conflict00%
Non-state conflict8P89%
One-sided violence against civilians1P11%

P Preliminary. The figure is from UCDP Candidate Events, and UCDP revises these events.

The glossary has the UCDP definition of each type.

All months

Table 5. Monthly reports of South Africa, newest first: events and estimated deaths
MonthEventsEstimated deathsDataset
September 202621P76PCandidate Events
August 202617P48PCandidate Events
July 202616P26PCandidate Events
June 202621P47PCandidate Events
May 20269P29PCandidate Events
April 20264P6PCandidate Events
March 202619P34PCandidate Events
February 202611P17PCandidate Events
January 202612P29PCandidate Events
October 202511GED
September 202533GED
August 202535GED
June 202548GED
September 202422GED

P Preliminary. The figure is from UCDP Candidate Events, and UCDP revises these events. Search engines list a report of a month in the last 12 months that has 20 or more events. The other reports stay online and ask search engines not to list them.

South Africa: all figures

Cite this page

ConflictStats. South Africa: events and estimated deaths in May 2026. https://conflictstats.com/country/south-africa/month/2026-05/. Source: Uppsala Conflict Data Program, UCDP GED 26.1 and UCDP Candidate Events 26.0.9. Data through .

The address of this page does not change. UCDP asks for a citation of its publications: Data sources and licences has it.