The South African Police Service management in the Eastern Cape has this week expressed shock and consternation at the increasing levels of rape incidents in the province. In a high level meeting held at the Provincial Head Office, the Provincial Commissioner, Lieutenant General Liziwe Ntshinga described the situation as requiring urgent intervention.
Rape incidents have hit hard on various villages and towns in the province with the most affected areas being Lusikisiki, Mthatha, Ngqeleni, East London and Mbizana. Although other areas are not immune from this pandemic, they are however a cause for concern as young and old people are affected by this problem.
Crime analysis and trends indicate that young children up to 18 year old girls fall victim of rapes either at home or in the taverns. Saddening, is the fact that the culprits do not only end with young people, but are also targeting the elderly women aged between 70 to 95 years.
Most of these crimes are happening behind closed doors and in some instances during the night. This poses serious challenges for police investigations as some of the suspects manage to conceal their identities and disappear without trace. Such situation leave the victims severely traumatised and desperate for help.
SAPS management will be calling for an urgent engagement session among the stakeholders in the Justice Crime Prevention and Security Cluster (JCPS) to find a lasting mechanism to deal with the issue.
The Provincial Commissioner acknowledged that detectives are doing their best and have managed to crack most of the cases and subsequently achieved lengthy court sentences. However, she remained concerned about other social intervention measures which include emotional and health condition of those affected by these crimes.
“I wish to emphasise that parents have their parental duty to ensure that young children are not left to travel long distances alone from school without a caregiver. Equally, elderly women are not left to fend for themselves in isolation of their homes without any proper guardians” the Provincial Commissioner, Lieutenant General Ntshinga warned.
The SAPS management is calling upon all the role players and the entire community to rally behind the victims of these crimes and provide the necessary care and support deserved. Those criminals who are hell-bent on frustrating women and children are seriously warned to desist from their actions.
All rape rape and sexual offences must be reported to the police station immediately. Any person who has information on sexual related criminal incidents including rape, is requested to make contact with the nearest police station or call the SAPS crime stop number 086 00 10 111.
All the information supplied will be treated with strict confidentiality.
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