The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Mpumalanga is concerned about the ever-increasing cases of rape in the province, and more worrying is that three of our Police Stations are in the Top 30 Nationally where many cases of rape have been reported.
According to the recent Crime Stats report which focuses on the period from April to June 2024, Kabokweni, Pienaar, and Piet Retief are the rape capitals of Mpumalanga. These three areas are even mentioned in the Top 30 Police Stations around the country where most rape cases have been reported.
According to the stats:
- Kabokweni Police Station recorded 41 rape cases from April to June 2024. This is double the figures of 21 reported in between April to June 2020.
- Pienaar Police Station recorded 35 rape cases in the same three-month period.
- Piet Retief Police Station also recorded 35 cases of rape from April to June. This is more than triple the 12 cases reported in the same period in 2020.
The Report has also placed Kabokweni and Piet Retief amongst the Top 30 Police Stations across the country which saw major increases in reported cases of rape compared with April to June 2020:
Altogether, 614 cases of rape were reported in Mpumalanga from the period between April to June 2024. More worrisome is the fact that 316 of those cases were reported to have been committed by people known to the victims, like family and friends.
It is deeply concerning that sexual violent cases have increased in the province which demonstrates that government’s current interventions are not yielding positive results in terms of fighting and preventing sexually related crimes.
The DA will write to the MEC of Community Safety, Security and Liaison, Jackie Macie, requesting a meeting with him to discuss his plans of dealing with the increasing cases of rape and other criminal activities in the province, as well as the challenges facing the South African Police officers who work tirelessly to combat serious crimes in Mpumalanga.