The South African Police Service (SAPS) has arrested 100 suspects on charges of rape and a further 16 for attempted rape during the past week as part of a 90-day nationwide blitz aimed at combating gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF).

The majority of arrests were made in Gauteng, with 25 suspects apprehended in the province. A total of 67 wanted suspects were tracked down and detained in operations carried out across various provinces, highlighting the SAPS’s intensified efforts to tackle GBVF head-on.

On 24 June 2025, the Bloemfontein Regional Court handed a life sentence to a 45-year-old man found guilty of repeatedly raping a minor in October 2023. In another case, Tumelo Christian Khotha was sentenced to 26 years’ imprisonment by the Sasolburg Magistrates’ Court for the rape and assault of a 17-year-old girl.

Further convictions include life sentences for a 48-year-old grandfather and a 45-year-old uncle in separate cases of sexual abuse against minors in Mtubatuba.

Additionally, 29-year-old Chef Andre Meyer received a three-year sentence, suspended for five years, after being convicted in the Bloemfontein Regional Court for creating child pornography involving a 12-year-old boy.

The crackdown forms part of a wider national initiative that not only focuses on arrests but also prioritises the investigation and prosecution of GBVF-related cases. The SAPS’s Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS) units have recently secured several significant convictions.