RAPE REMAINS A GROWING CONCERN IN SOUTH AFRICA

By Mongezi Mhlongo (BTM Senior Reporter)

In a shocking revelation, the Medical Research Council (MRC) report has revealed that one in ever four South African men has committed rape. 

According to the MRC report the study was conducted in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu Natal Provinces in the rural, urban and city areas.

The report indicates that rape of women or girls had been perpetrated by 27.6% of the men interviewed and rape of men and boys was also reported by 16.8% of men.

This alarming figure calls for immediate intervention.

Furthermore these shocking rape statistics show a rather considerable societal problem that continues to cloud this country.

Hierarchy, ignorance and other factors still remain key contributors in many rape cases going unreported.   

Sadly though, in some instances reported rape cases go unnoticed and trials drag on for years, just like with the case of a gang rape victim Buyisiwe, where the trial dragged for four years with judgment only being passed early this month.  

According to the MRC report the rate of rape perpetration is not known because only a small proportion of rapes are reported to the police… need I say more?

Well this could also be attributed to the fact that rape victims have lost faith in our justice system.

The statistics currently available on the South African Police Services (SAPS) depict only rape cases for the year 2007 and according to these SAPS stats, 5499 rape cases were reported in the Eastern Cape region and 6502 cases were reported in Kwa-Zulu Natal. 

The research conducted by Triangle Project last year revealed that 86% of black lesbians from the Western Cape lived in fear of sexual assault, noting also that Triangle dealt with 10 new cases of corrective rape every week. Last year March the South African Human Rights Commission revealed that corrective rapes were on the increase in schools.

While President Jacob Zuma’s state of the nation address tapped into sexual violence, little was said about rape or the prevalent corrective rapes that continue to lurk in South Africa, let alone how the government was going to deal with such.

Forgive me but I shall not be coerced into lip service but I will make utterances that depict the truth. “the justice system of this country has failed dismally”. And the thorny question still remains, when exactly are they planning to step up to the plate!!!