More than 10 000 people raped in SA between July and Sept 2022

More than 10 000 people were victims of rape in South Africa, according to the quarterly crime statistics released by the South African Police Service (Saps).

Police Minister Bheki Cele on Wednesday released the crime stats covering the period between 1 July and 30 September 2022.

Quarterly crime statistics

Increase in rape cases

The figures show that 10 590 cases of rape were reported to police in three months, representing an increase of 10.8% compared to the same period last year.

WATCH: Police Minister Bheki Cele presents quarterly crime stats

In July and September last year, 9 556 cases of rape were reported to police, representing a difference of 1 034 between 2021 and 2022.

The majority of rape cases in South Africa were reported in KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape.

Most of these rape incidents took place at the home of the victim or the home of the rapist.

Public places, such as open fields and recreational centres, were the second most likely areas where rapes happened.

Sexual assault

In terms of sexual assault, 1 895 cases were reported to police between July and September this year. This is an increase of 142 (8.1%) compared to the same period last year, which was 1 753.

Attempted sexual offences increased by 136 (34%), which means that 536 cases were recorded in the reporting period.

Compared to the same period last year, 400 sexual offences were reported between July and September.

Contact sexual offences

Contact sexual offences increased by 7 (2.7%), which means that 262 cases were recorded in the reporting period.

This is compared to last year’s figure of 255 between July and September.

Overall, sexual offences went up by 1 319 (11%) in three months.

This means 13 283 cases of sexual offences were reported to police between July and September 2022, compared to the same period last year, when the figure was 11 964.