Cape Town - On the eve of the 16 Days of Activism for No Violence against Women and Children Campaign, the most recent crime statistics paint a bleak picture of the country’s fight against gender-based violence, with nearly 1000 women murdered between July 1 and September 30 this year.
During this period, 989 women and 315 children were killed.
A total of 1 277 women were victims of attempted murder while 294 children were. There were 13701 cases of assault of women and 1 895 of children.
Briefing the National Assembly’s police committee on Wednesday about the shocking increase in the number of murders, rapes and other crimes against women and children, Police Minister Bheki Cele said the rate at which women were abused, violated and some killed in South Africa remained worrying and unacceptable.
“Many are killed by the people they know, people they love and trust,” he told a media briefing.
He noted that as the country was set to commemorate the commencement of the global 16 Days of Activism for No Violence against Women and Children Campaign tomorrow, the reality was that women continue to be victims of violent crimes.
Cele also said over 10000 rape cases were opened during the reporting period.
“From a sample of 8227 rape incidents that were perused, it was determined that 5 083, which is 62% of these incidents occurred at the residence of the victims or perpetrators.”
He said 1651 of the rape incidents occurred at public places such as streets, parks and beaches, and that 69 people were raped at abandoned buildings.
Cele said Mpumalanga was the only province to report a decrease in rape incidents.
Inanda police station in KwaZulu-Natal, Mthatha in the Eastern Cape and Delft in the Western Cape are the three stations with the highest rape cases.
The crime statistics again showed that communities continued to fail to protect children, he said.
“Shockingly, in just six months, 558 children were killed in South Africa – from April to the end of September 2022.
“Police are investigating attempted murder dockets of 294 children from July to September 2022,” he said.
Dr Azille Coetzee of Stellenbosch University described the statistics as distressing, devastating, horrifying and heartbreaking.
“Our government is failing us, we are failing one another and I have no idea what the solution is, because this violence is not new or unexpected but rooted in a long history of slavocratic, colonial and apartheid brutality from which this country emerged.”
GBV activist Nthabiseng Mabaso-Motaung said these incidents were caused by the lack of education and empathy from men.
“Some men grew up seeing their mothers being abused by their fathers. I will agree to harsher sentences for such offences,” Mabaso-Motaung said.
The National Assembly’s police committee said it remained concerned by the upward trend in crime statistics across the board and, in particular, violent crime, especially against women and children.
“The committee’s argument is that a collaboration between the police and the community is the only basis on which the fight can be won. Also, the enhancement of both the detectives and crime intelligence environments will add the necessary energy and expertise in the fight against crime,” said committee chairperson Tina Joemat-Pettersson.
Contact crimes were also on the rise with an 18.5% increase to 162 518, said Major-General Norman Sekhukhune.
Sekhukhune said the only crimes that decreased were arson and burglary at non-residential premises at 17.7% and 16.9% respectively.
Murder cases increased by 13.6% to 7 004 cases, up from 6 163 recorded last year, while attempted murder also shot up by 19% when 6 155 cases were recorded.
Inanda, uMlazi, Nyanga, Delft, Plessislaer and Marianhill topped the stations with the highest number of murders.
Common assault and assault with intent to inflict grievous bodily harm registered double-digit increases as did common robbery and robbery with aggravating circumstances.
A total of 13 283 sexual offences cases were reported with at least 10 590 rapes, 1 895 sexual assaults, 536 attempted sexual offences and 262 contact sexual offences.
Sekhukhune said during July, 28 565 more serious crimes were reported. The numbers went down to 12 596 in August and 10 830 the following month.
He also said Cape Town Central, Honey Dew, Durban Central, Johannesburg Central and Mitchells Plain were among the top five stations where serious crimes were reported.
Cape Times