CGE: Lack of police resources hampering fight against GBV
A new report by the Commission for Gender Equality has highlighted capacity constraints as a major contributing factor to the police’s inability to curb the rising tide of gender-based violence cases across the county.
The report was compiled from a series of oversight visits by the commission to police stations in various provinces and areas that are classified as GBV hotspots, to assess mechanisms they have put in place to support survivors of GBV and sexual offences.
The report was launched in Braamfontein on Tuesday.
It found that police stations across the country do not have the necessary resources to deliver the appropriate services to victims of gender-based violence.
A general shortage in vehicles to respond to cases of domestic violence, a massive delay in uploading DNA cases leading to an increase in the number of cases being withdrawn as some of the factors at play, said the commission’s deputy chairperson Nthabiseng Moleko.
"We looked at a number of police station per a population. One Gauteng police station services 109 000 people , one KwaZulu-Natal police station services 62 500, which are the highest in the country, with the Northern Cape and Free State being the lowest servicing 43 000 and 23 000 people.
"There were more cases of rape, more cases of GBV. This is a societal problem; this is a sickness and an illness that we have as a society and I think we have got to respond to that.
"The highest concentration is in Inanda in KZN, Delft in the Western Cape and in Lusikisiki in the Eastern Cape. Family members at times urge individuals to withdraw cases and that is a family and society issue and not a SAPS and Department of Social Development issue,” added Moleko.
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