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The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Limpopo has written to Provincial Police Commissioner, Lt. Gen. Thembi Hadebe, to intensify the manhunt for the two suspects sought after the alleged rape of 2 young girls on 9 June 2022.

The 8- and 9-year-olds were walking home from school when they were grabbed and forcefully raped by two men outside Tshilwavhusiku.

The family violence, child protection and sexual offences (FCS) unit from Tshilwavhusiku has launched a manhunt for the suspects.

According to a written response to a Parliamentary Question submitted by the DA, the Thohoyandou cluster has only 20 officers in its FCS unit, investigating 1 254 cases with only 9 vehicles at their disposal.

This means that on average, each investigation officer has 63 dockets to investigate and to ensure that witnesses are at court and provide evidence themselves.

It is clear that Gender-Based Violence (GBV) is not being prioritised by the SAPS in Limpopo and at national level, especially in rural areas.

As long as the FCS units do not have adequate resources and the capacity to effectively investigate and apprehend rapists, our children will be in harm’s way.

We call on Hadebe to prioritise the manhunt for these two suspects by allocating more resources to ensure that they are apprehended.

Reported sexual offences in Limpopo increased by 6.7% during January to March 2022.

Unless FCS units are well resourced with capable investigating officers, who are experts in this field, coupled with enough vehicles and computers, administrative staff and forensic resources at their disposal to successfully investigate sexual offences, our women and children will remain unsafe.

Issued by Katlego Suzan Phala MPL - DA Provincial Spokesperson on Transport and Community Safety