More than 11 000 people raped in 3 months - Cele
Police Minister Bheki Cele says while sexual assault and rape have decreased in between October and December 2021 compared to the previous recording period, it remains stubbornly high.
Some 11 315 rapes were recorded.
Cele was briefing the media on the latest quarterly crime statistics on Friday.
Gender-based violence, rape and murder are among the toughest crimes facing police in the country.
"This is a decrease of 903 rape cases, compared to the previous reporting period. All nine provinces recorded decreases in rape cases," said Cele .
Just over 5000 of the rape incidents reportedly took place at the home of the victim or the home of the alleged rapist.
Cele said 674 of the rape cases were related to domestic violence and involved 632 women and 42 men survivors.
Lusisiki police station in the Eastern Cape, Umlazi and Inanda police stations in KwaZulu-Natal continued to be the stations with highest number of reported rapes.
"The decrease in some of the sexual offences, especially rape cases can be attributed to all provinces increasing their GBV awareness campaigns. This includes contact meetings with SAPS and communities. The service has also ramped up its communication and sensitisation on GBVF crimes through print, television and radio mediums," claimed Cele.
