Picture for illustration: iStock
South Africa has recorded a 9.0% decrease in sexual offences from October to December 2021, according to the latest quarterly crimes statistics, but despite this more than 11 000 people still fell victim to rape during this period.
Police Minister Bheki Cele revealed this on Friday in Cape Town during the release of the quarterly crime statistics for the last three months of 2021.
Cele said despite the drop in sexual offences for the quarter, 11, 315 people were raped between October and December.
“This is a decrease of 903 rape cases, compared to the previous reporting period and all nine provinces recorded decreases in rape cases,” the minister said.
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He said more than 5,012 of the rape incidents took place at the home of the victim or the home of the rapist.
“674 rapes were domestic violence-related and 632 of rape cases in this category, involved female victims and 42 were males,” Cele said.
Most rape cases that were reported to police were by victims who knew their perpetrators. The Western Cape recorded 155 rape cases, Gauteng 133, Eastern Cape 102 and KwaZulu-Natal 68.
In terms of police stations that reported the highest rates of rape cases, Lusikisiki police station in Eastern Cape and Umlazi and Inanda stations in KwaZulu-Natal recorded the highest incidents of rape.
Cele said the South African Police Service’s (Saps) public awareness campaigns on gender-based violence (GBV) and the publication of rape convictions contributed to the decline in sexual offences, among other factors.
“This includes contact meetings with Saps and communities. The service has also ramped up its communication and sensitisation on GBV crimes through print, television and radio mediums,” Cele said.
Cele assured the public that cases of GBV and femicide (GBVF) remained a priority crime for the Saps.
He called on police officers to continue to improve their responses and service delivery to victims and survivors of GBVF at station level.
The minister said 91,489 police officers were trained in victim empowerment, domestic violence and sexual offences related programmes in the fight against the scourge of GBVF in the country.
“Through, our 185 Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences units, including nine Serial Electric Crime Investigation units (SECI), detectives are solely focusing their efforts and expertise in investigating crimes against women and children.
“The FCS has handed down 272 life sentences for crimes committed against women and children since April to date,” he said.
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