The Democratic Alliance in the Northern Cape is calling on the provincial and local leaders of safety, policing and social development to urgently take more practical steps against rape in the Kimberley area.

Just today, the arrest of a serial rapist, in addition to the rape of a young woman who was dragged from the road into a veld, were highlighted in the local media.

It is little wonder that we read of incidents of sexual violence taking place on our doorstep on an almost daily basis when considering that Kimberley, Roodepan and Galeshewe account for over 40% of the total rape cases in the entire province.

It cannot be that, a decade after the development of the provincial anti-rape strategy, which was eventually included into the more recent Crime Prevention Strategy, incidents of sexual violence in the province remain unacceptably high.

Rape is a vicious and evil crime. It is not something that can just be philosophised about and written into high level plans that are never implemented. Instead, it demands that urgent action must be taken to both curb its incidence and to punish the perpetrators of this extreme violation of the human right to safety.

The DA has today written to Provincial Police Commissioner, Rismati Shivuri, in conjunction with the MEC of Transport, Safety & Liaison, Lebogang Motlhaping and the Mayor of Sol Plaatje municipality, Patrick Mabilo, to appeal to them to work together to isolate and target areas in and around the city, where incidents of rape are particularly high.

In this regard, they should do more to make the areas as physically safe as possible by cutting away long grass and tree branches and breaking down derelict buildings that are used as cover for rapists. Stations in hot spot areas must also receive attention. They should be manned with appropriately skilled officers to ensure correct protocols are followed when attending to all cases of sexual violence, as well as be equipped with adequate specialised equipment, in order to secure the conviction of rapists. These are seemingly small and obvious actions that can go a long way towards combatting the scourge of sexual violence in Kimberley and its surrounds.

Only change under a DA-led government will ensure that all levels of government work hand in hand with the police in an attempt to combat sexual violence and reclaim this city from criminals.

 

Issued by The DA