Following an incident in July 2022 where eight women were raped in West Village, the police were instructed to apologise to the victims for releasing their personal information to the public.
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A statement from National Police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe said that National Police Commissioner, General Fannie Masemola tendered a public apology to the victims of the attack.
“The apology from the police follows the public release of personal information of the eight women which included their names and surnames, age and physical addresses.”
After the incident, Masemola ordered an internal departmental investigation into the matter. After the investigation was concluded the report found that the personal information was indeed released inappropriately but that no ill-intent was uncovered.
“This however still does not justify the sharing of such information.”
The information was shared on the internal WhatsApp platforms of the police to mobilise all the necessary role players and resources.
“During the process of tracing the suspects the police management of Gauteng, the relevant district, stations, and units were alerted of the crime and requested to mobilise resources to trace the suspects. WhatsApp messages were used to communicate due to the urgency of tracing the suspects.”
Also read: LETTER: West Village gang rape ‘a senseless and barbaric act by men’
These messages then found their way to social media.
“The police regrets the disclosure of such personal information and apologises to the victims of the dreadful crimes for the information breach and the hardship caused as a result. The police management continues to issue directives and drive internal awareness campaigns within the police in an endeavour to avoid a repeat of information breaches.”
The police management wanted to assure South Africans of their commitment to comply with the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013.
“On behalf of the police, I apologise unreservedly to the victims in particular and their families. Crimes against women and children remain a priority for members of the police and in the past financial year, 386 life sentences were handed down to perpetrators of gender-based violence and femicide-related crimes, and during the same period 17 481 suspects were arrested for such crimes,” said General Masemola.
