According to new South African Police Service statistics, more children are being murdered and raped in South Africa than in previous years. More than three children are murdered every day and more than 60 are raped. There is a crime committed against a child every six minutes.
The statistics, released by Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula, show that 1 128 children were murdered between April 2004 and March 2005. The previous year shows 700 reported cases of child murder. During April 2004 to March 2005, 22 486 children were raped - a lot more than the 15 867 reported cases for 2003/2004. In the financial year 2002/2003, 15 144 child rapes were reported.
For the period April 2004 to March 2005, the minister said there were also 1 569 cases of attempted murder reported to police, 4 829 of indecent assault and 24 189 of assault with grievous bodily harm involving children. A total of 85 808 violent crimes were perpetrated against minors.
Of the murder cases, the highest number of reports were in KwaZulu-Natal (284), followed by Gauteng (222), the Eastern Cape (204), the Western Cape (164), Mpumalanga (69), the Freestate (49), Limpopo (44) and the Northern Cape (27).
Most rape incidents, 4 859, took place in Gauteng followed by KwaZulu-Natal (3 936), the Eastern Cape (3 006), Western Cape (2 796), Northwest (2 059), Limpopo (1 968), Mpumalanga (1 180), Freestate (1 610) and the Northern Cape (661).
The conviction rate in the 2003/2004 financial year was 4.5%. A safety and security spokesperson, Hangwane Molautsi, said the department was now giving preference to crimes against women and children. "We have filled vacant posts and strengthened investigation capacity. I'm sure that, when the statistics for the current year are announced in September, there will be a considerable drop in this type of crime. However, other government departments and non-government organisations, as well as communities where these crimes occur, will have to co-operate with us."
South Africa also has one of the highest overall rape figures in the world, if not the highest. There are at least 10 anti-rape organisations in South Africa. They have launched the One in Nine campaign, which refers to a Medical Research Council report that eight out of every nine rape cases go unreported in South Africa.
