There was a total of 2344 rape cases reported to Gauteng police stations over three months. Averaging on 25 a day.

This is according to the Gauteng Police Commissioner Lieutenant-General Elias Mawela who presented the third quarter crime statistics on Tuesday, in Johannesburg. The stats cover a three months period from October 1 to December 31.

READ MORE: R242 billion Western Cape Provincial budget

ActionSA says it is extremely concerned about the near double-digit increase of cases of rape in the province. The stats revealed that incidents of rape increased by 9%, sexual assault by 8.5% and sexual offences increased by a worrying 26.2%.

The party’s Gauteng Provincial Chairperson, Funzi Ngobeni, blamed the ruling African National Congress for failing to stem ‘lawlessness’ in the country:

Furthermore, women in our province continue to go unprotected from gender-based violence (GBV) and safety houses as the province has been unable to provide adequate safety houses and community support for victims of gender-based violence.

Of the 2344 rape cases in the third quarter, only 2033 of the women were over the age of 18.

READ MORE: City applies for interdict to prevent violence in EFF shutdown

The police data also suggests that places most likely for rape to occur are residential homes and public spaces. Lieutenant-General Mawela says it is difficult for police to curb intimate partner violence, because it typically occurs behind closed doors:

The woman will walk with me because they know me, they trust me, that with me I won’t harm them and only to find that I am the person who is going to harm them and that’s the sad part

Major crimes stats on the rise

The third quarter crime stats also show that guns are the leading cause of deaths in Gauteng. Nearly 50% of all murders were committed with a firearm. Knives were also of the weapons used the most to commit murder. Mawela says the spread of illegal firearms worsened the problem:

And it doesn’t mean the firearms used are all illegal firearms. There are people who are in possession of licensed firearms and they are using these firearms in the wrong way

READ MORE: Malawi in state of disaster after Cyclone Freddy

Lt-Gen Elias Mawela, Gauteng Police Commissioner, says he is disappointed with the general increase in serious and violent crimes in the province.

“Behind each and every number we spoke about, there is a name of a victim so we can’t celebrate anything here,” he said. TCG pic.twitter.com/biv56Iwchz

— EWN Reporter (@ewnreporter) March 14, 2023

The increase in major crimes is upsetting, says Mawela. He adds it is important to note this was the first festive season without pandemic lockdown restrictions. The police did however, employ a safer festive season campaign in hopes of mitigating the expected escalation in crime:

This was done under the theme: ‘More boots on the ground towards enhanced police visibility’. It is disheartening that even with all our efforts, the statistics will show that we did not do well as we have lost our overall crime category for the quarter under review