‘Most rapes occurred at the residence of the victim or perpetrator’

Police say most rapes in the third quarter of the 2021-2022 financial year occurred at the residence of either the victim or the perpetrator.

Briefing Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Police, SAPS head of crime research, Major-General Norman Sekhukhune says such places account for 5 012 cases.

Other places include streets, open fields and recreational parks.

Sekhukhune says there were 61 cases of rape reported at educational institutions.

He has also given a breakdown on the number of rapes that occurred as part of domestic violence.

“The Western Cape was the highest with 155 and number 2 was Gauteng. They also had a domestic relationship with the perpetrator,” he says.

Below is the live stream of Police Minister releasing the crime stats:

Meanwhile, Police Minister Bheki Cele has called on members of the public to help to bring perpetrators of crime to justice.

Cele was briefing Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Police on the third quarter statistics for the 2021-2022 financial year.

The Minister says in many cases, families pressurise victims of crime to withdraw cases against perpetrators.

He says without the co-operation of members of the public, it is difficult to bring perpetrators to book.

“The families are playing a big role … on this question of women and murder abuse,” adds Cele

Meanwhile, the committee chairperson Tina Joemat-Peterson says even though the police statistics released on Friday show a decrease in rapes, the numbers are still too high.

“It gives us an average of 122 … unacceptable and totally unheard of,” says Joemat-Peterson.

Below is the full crime stats report: