Gauteng Premier Nomvula Mokonyane has described as barbaric the rape and sexual assault of two paramedics in Durban Deep on the West Rand. She visited the families of the two female paramedics in Kagiso last night. Three armed men attacked the two women while they were attending to a patient.

"We condemn this barbaric act, worse an act that has happened to people who had gone out to serve the community. It is unfortunate that it has happened at a point where they had gone out to help one of our own. We call on peace-loving people of Gauteng to come out and assist the police in ensuring that the perpetrators are arrested," says Mokonyane.   

The Premier says the provincial government will visit the community of Durban Deep on Friday where the incident happened. Mokonyane says paramedics will now be escorted by police officers when called out to dangerous areas around Gauteng. The two paramedics are currently receiving counseling to help them deal with the situation.

A study by Interpol, the international police agency, has revealed that South Africa leads the world in rapes. A woman is raped in South Africa every 17 seconds. This number does not include the number of child rape victims. It is estimated that one in every two women will be raped. Between 28 and 30% of adolescents reported that their first sexual encounter was forced.