Cape Town - The cases of domestic violence-related crimes against women that the province recorded between July and September could have been prevented.
This is according to provincial police commissioner Thembisile Patekile, who said these numbers were concerning, especially since the majority of incidents occurred at residences.
Patekile and Police Oversight and Community Safety MEC Reagen Allen took stock of the recently released second-quarter crime statistics in the Western Cape on Tuesday.
The province recorded 36 cases of domestic murders, of which 25 victims were women, 162 cases of rape (155 women) and 1 240 cases of assault with the intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
Delft topped the top 10 provincial rape stations with an increase of 14% (65 cases from 57 for the same period last year), followed by Harare, Kraaifontein, Mfuleni and Nyanga.
Of the rape cases that were recorded, 1 022, or 62%, of the cases occurred in residences.
Patekile said these could have been avoided by the family members and the communities in which they occurred. He expressed the need to engage families, street committees, the religious fraternity, and other stakeholders.
“We have now started to have men’s dialogues which we want to conduct in these hotspot areas. We requested police stations to conduct these and we have seen areas like Khayelitsha, Gugulethu and Nyanga responding positively.
“We all must join in as we move forward, especially during the 16 Days of Activism … and beyond. These dialogues are a long-term investment,” he said.
Regarding the secondary victimisation of rape victims when reporting cases at police stations, Patekile said in partnership with Business Against Crime, the police had revamped victim-friendly rooms and ensured the availability of rape kits and other necessities at all police stations.
He said gender-based violence (GBV) desk co-ordinators were appointed at every police station and officers had been trained to minimise secondary victimisation of rape victims.
Ilitha Labantu spokesperson Siyabulela Monakali said Delft and other areas on the Cape Flats regularly featured in the top 30 GBV and murder hotspots, which he said was indicative of a culture of violence deeply embedded in the province.
What was more concerning, Monakali said, was the 3% conviction rate for GBV-related crimes, which meant that 97% of perpetrators were not brought to justice and continued to wage war in communities.
Delft activist Farida Ryklief said there was a need to strengthen family programmes to eradicate the moral decay within communities.
However, Nyanga community police forum chairperson Dumisani Qwebe decried the government’s lack of support for the community’s programmes.
Allen said that on Friday when he visited the police forensic science laboratory, he was motivated by the steady movement towards ensuring that the DNA backlog was addressed, especially of rape cases.