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76% of SA Police Stations have no rape kits in stock for victims

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Dear MyPE

The Democratic Alliance (DA) can reveal that 76% of police stations in South Africa do not have adult rape kits in stock. A further, 69% of stations do not have child rape kits in stock.

Without these kits, evidence in reported rape cases cannot be collected, and, without evidence, the ability to successfully prosecute rapists diminishes drastically. It is wholly unacceptable and a damning indictment on the South African Police Service (SAPS) that only a handful of police stations are equipped to successfully gather evidence from victims of rape.

The shortage of rape kits is a crisis of national importance, which needs to be resolved as a matter of great urgency.

These shocking statistics were revealed by the National Police Commissioner after a request for information submitted by the DA.

The DA will now write to Minister Cele and provide him with 90 days to ensure the rape kit crisis is resolved by ensuring that provincial needs are met.

This issue has to do with the lives and dignity of the women and children of our country. The current figures indicate that SAPS has run short of over 128 000 rape kits, with only around 18 000 adult rape kits in circulation in SA.

If the Minister of Police does not heed to our call to resolve the rape kits crisis he must take full responsibility for the failure of the SAPS to investigate rape, arrest rapists and ensure successful prosecutions of those who commit this heinous crime.

The DA will continue to fight for the rights of our survivors by ensuring that our police services are equipped to put criminals behind bars where they belong.

Regards

Andrew Whitfield MP
DA Shadow Minister of Police

The Eastern Cape is supposed to have:

  • 10 000 D1-Adult Sexual Assault Evidence Collection Kits in stock and only has 1 457
  • 10 000 D7-Paediatric Sexual Assault Evidence Collection Kits in stock and only has 2 642

The fact that each we expect 10 000 rapes to occur in the Eastern Cape (and be reported) is shocking to begin with!

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Port Elizabethan

This author is a 'catch-all' for occasional articles and letters written to MyPE. The Author of each article can be found in the signature at the bottom of each individual article.