SA’s rape hotspots: Here’s where the most sexual offences were reported

As the Presidential Summit on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF) wraps up on Wednesday, I’m reminded of the most recent crime stats – specifically rape and murder.

Women’s Month ended on a sombre note when Minister of Police Bheki Cele delivered the crime statistics for the final quarter (April and June 2022) in August.

Even though rape, sexual assault and attempted sexual offences decreased, the figures released by the South African Police Service (Saps) were still worrisome.

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Sexual offences in SA

Saps recorded 9 516 rape cases between April and June 2022. While most provinces showed a decrease, North West and Northern Cape saw a spike in sexual offences.

Of those cases reported – which is likely only a fraction of the actual figures – 3 780 of the rapes took place in the homes of the rapists or homes of the victims.

In addition, 1 546 people were raped in public places such as streets, parks and beaches, while public transportation (buses, taxis and trains) were the third most likely places.

SA’s rape hotspots

The crime report highlighted South Africa’s 30 policing areas were residents are most likely to be the victim of rape.

The most dangerous region was Inanda in KwaZulu-Natal with 78 cases of rape reported between April and June 2022 (up from 73 cases during the same period in 2021).

Lusikisiki police station in the Eastern Cape opened 73 cases, up from 71 during 2021.

Meanwhile, Delft had the third most reported cases (60), but also showed the biggest decrease (12 cases less when compared to 2021).

The policing region with the biggest spike in rape cases was Honeydew in Gauteng (49 cases between April and June 2022, compared to to 21 cases during the previous period).

To view the image above in high-res, open it here.

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The top 5 ‘rape stations’ are as follows:

• Inanda in KwaZulu-Natal – 78 cases
• Lusikisiki in Eastern Cape – 73 cases
• Delft in Western Cape – 60 cases
• Empangeni in KwaZulu-Natal – 56 cases
• Thohoyandou in Limpopo – 55 cases

South Africa’s murder hotspots

As reported by The Citizen at the time, 6 424 people were killed in the first quarter of 2022/2023 financial year – an increase of 664 victims.

Cele highlighted the country’s most dangerous regions – most cases were reported in KwaZulu-Natal, followed by Gauteng and the Eastern Cape.

Umlazi and Plessislaer in KwaZulu-Natal recorded 83 and 69 murders respectively between April and June, while 69 murders were also reported in Mthatha in the Eastern Cape.

This is an increase of 66.2% when compared to 2020/2021, and an increase of 6.7% from 2019/2020.

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