Rape incidents have gone down in all provinces, said Police Minister Bheki Cele during the release of quarterly crime statistics in parliament today. The statistics report covers the period between October 1 and December 31 2021.
Cele said 11 315 cases were reported during the period, noting that 42 of of these cases involved men as victims. “There is a decrease in sexual offences (0.9%), especially rape cases,” he said.
The minister also revealed that murder cases climbed by 8.9% across the country during this reporting period.
“Let me remind the nation that GBV [gender-based violence] and femicide remain a priority crime for the South African Police Service [SAPS]. I again call on all SAPS members to continue to improve their responses and service delivery to victims and survivors of GBV/F at station level.”
GBV desks were now available at 381 police stations across the country, said Cele, adding that the Lusikisiki police station in the Eastern Cape and Umlazi and Inanda station in KwaZulu-Natal recorded the highest incidents of rape.
“The establishment of the GBV desks will be finalised at the end of March this year, and 91 489 police officers have been trained in victim empowerment, domestic violence, and sexual offences-related programmes.”
Cele was appalled that out of the 46 513 cases of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm [GBH], 2 048 involved children under 17 years, blaming this behaviour largely on the abuse of alcohol.
“Assault GBH figures have shown drastic decreases, with over 3 000 less cases reported during this reporting period. While the decrease is welcomed, the number of assault cases is still too high and shows that violence still stalks many communities and is often fueled by alcohol abuse,” he said.
Motor vehicle theft also saw a decrease of more than 20% in the reporting period.
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