Quarterly figures said that more than 7,000 people, including almost 1,000 women, were murdered over the period, up 14 percent on the same timeframe in 2021.
More than 550 children were killed between April and September.
Rapes, in a country notorious for sex attacks against women and children, also recorded a huge jump.
Kidnappings doubled to more than 4,000 in the three months between July and September, compared to the same time last year.
Car-jackings rose 24 percent to more than 6,000.
"The crime statistics again show that we as communities continue to fail to protect some of the most vulnerable in society: our children," Police Minister Bheki Cele told a press conference.
He promised that 10,000 new recruits would be ready to join the police force ahead of the Christmas and New Year period, when crime typically rises.
Their deployment "will intensify police visibility during the festive season and beyond," he said. "Nothing will replace fighting crime (better) than warm bodies."
Cele, who is under fire over the crime wave, noted that from July to September last year, South Africa was under various levels of coronavirus lockdown, with restrictions on many activities.
But that will be of little consolation for many South Africans who have grown accustomed to bleak police bulletins.
"The bloodbath of violent crime remains out of control across the country with millions of people living in fear," said Andrew Whitfield, a lawmaker with the largest opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, calling on President Cyril Ramaphosa to fire Cele.