WITH Moroka Police Station in Soweto having the highest increase in rape cases reported in the province, the DA in Gauteng kickstarted the 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children by picketing outside the cop shop on Friday, 24 November.
The picket was led by the provincial leader and premier candidate Solly Msimanga. During the picket, a human chain was formed to represent the women and children who had fallen victim to gender-based violence.
Speaking to Daily Sun, he said: "Moroka is the highest when it comes to rape, 2096 have been raped in Gauteng in the last three months. That’s more than 23 a day. This is also a police station that has the highest number in reported cases.
"It cannot be that when we talk about 16 days of activism, we have a government that spends money by giving people T-shirts and food yet every day, centres and police stations that should be equipped are not being equipped," said Msimanga.
The cop shop services areas such as Rockville, White City, Mofolo, Molapo, Fox Lake, Senaoane and Dlamini.
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He said there were certain centres which did not have rape kits, while on the other hand some police stations didn't have victim centres that ensured women could talk about their ordeal in a safe space.
He claimed that the government was spending more money on VIPs and unnecessary things.
"The detectives are saying that they can not cope with the case numbers they are sitting with. In one police station there was a detective that said in his unit one detective is sitting with over 200 cases per person," he said.
Msimanga said that as the DA they felt there should not be 16 days of activism but 365 days and this should be done while also empowering police stations and victim centres.
Delivering the crime stats on 23 November, Police Commissioner General Elias Mawela said that while Gauteng saw a slight decrease in crime, it was still the province with the highest crime rate in the country.
Mawela said rape cases had decreased by 167 to 2 096. Gauteng remained the biggest contributor to crime in the country, with 27%.
Msimanga concluded that this was worrying as gender-based violence is becoming more prevalent in Gauteng. He also said that women and children deserved to live in a society where they didn't have to live in fear for their lives daily.
