Policing receives the most complaints regarding corruption
South African police stations are failing to effectively help victims of gender-based violence (GBV) and rape and to apprehend suspects because a high number of victims often withdraw the cases, while there is not enough expertise in using rape kits and the process of analysing DNA is often prolonged.
A report by the Commission for Gender Equality — which assesses the level of compliance by the police in providing victim-friendly services — shows domestic violence is rising, with the highest levels being recorded in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape and Western Cape.
At the launch of the report on Tuesday, commissioner Nomasonto Mazibuko highlighted the vital role the South African Police Service plays in combating gender-based violence, given that its stations are most victims’ first port of call.
However there is “a lack of standardisation across provinces regarding resources, training, staffing and processes”, the commission found during its assessment of 66 police stations nationwide between March and September last year.
“The findings also depicted the alarming withdrawal of cases by victims, high levels of poverty and distance from police stations and courts as some hindering factors for victims’ ability to access justice,” the report states.
“The fact that there are acquittals in rape cases and domestic violence cases, which are widely known as life-threatening GBV violations, is concerning and needs further probing. One acquittal in the cases of GBV is one too many.”
In Free State, the commission found an alarmingly high rate of withdrawals of cases relating to rape and domestic violence. The police in Sasolburg and Kopanong recorded the highest number of cases for domestic violence that proceeded to prosecution, with 248 and 35 cases, respectively.
However, prosecution does not always lead to conviction.
In Seshego in Limpopo, out of 90 rape cases referred for prosecution between March and September last year, only four yielded convictions.
In Western Cape, one of the country’s hotspots for gender-based violence, the commission found the location of police stations determined the effective response to reported cases in many instances .
“The findings across various police stations demonstrated the diversity and lack of uniformity in terms of operations of various types of GBVF [gender-based violence and femicide] cases. Some police stations demonstrated higher levels of innovation than others by ensuring the disaggregation of victims who reported the cases,” it found.
Victims of such violence in the province seem more confident to report cases but the “high level of reporting cases does not necessarily translate into a high number of prosecution referrals and convictions”.
Parow Police Station in the northern suburbs of Cape Town referred 64 cases of domestic violence but all resulted in acquittals. At the same station, there was also a significant number of closed rape cases, which the commission attributed to withdrawals, DNA not matching, false reports as well as mediation between the families of victims and perpetrators outside the court system.
“On average, in the 2019/2020 financial year, 24% of cases were withdrawn, and in the 2020/2021 financial year, 11% of cases were withdrawn,” the report found.
The backlog at the laboratory for DNA analysis also led to cases being prolonged, sometimes resulting in acquittals or cases being withdrawn.
“A national challenge for the SAPS is the time it takes to receive DNA results and ballistic reports from the laboratory. This delay poses a serious challenge for police and affects cases negatively,” the commission said.
It noted: “Due to high poverty and unemployment in South Africa, this observation is alarming as perpetrators take advantage of the dire economic environments faced by victims and pay their way out of facing the justice system to account for their violations.”
The police assessment report would be presented to the national police commissioner and the relevant parliamentary portfolio committee for further intervention “to remedy the service delivery situation in the police stations across all the provinces”, the commission added.