Diepsloot station not adequately resourced to deal with violence against women

14 August 2017

Today’s visit to the Diepsloot Police Station made it clear that the station is not adequately resourced to deal with reports of violence against women. Insufficient police training only serves to worsen the problem. This is what happens when there is a lack of accountability and senior management does not support station management enough.

Shockingly, we found that over the last five months at this station, 110 (over 60%) of the 179 reported common assault cases were against women and children. Women and children were the victims of more than 80% of the reported domestic violence cases and over 90% of the reported rape cases. The station is hampered by under-resourcing and under-staffing. Specifically:

- The nearest FCS Unit to the station is located in Roodepoort, which sometimes causes delays in the hand-over of sexual offence cases. Rape kits are also not kept at the station.

- There is an urgent need for the establishment of satellite police stations, due to the incredibly large area the station has to cover, which includes outlying and semi-rural sectors.

- Due to long delays in procuring replacement parts at the SAPS Garages, the station also struggles with the necessary vehicles to effectively police the whole area.

In a society where horrific attacks and murders occur on a daily basis, like those of Sasha Arendse, Courtney Pieters, Popi Qwabe, Bongeka Phungula, Lerato Moloi and Karabo Mokoena, among many others, it is unacceptable that this police station has not been given the equipment and manpower they need to help make inroads against those who commit violent acts against women.

However, combating gender violence is clearly not an ANC priority.

The ANC have illustrated this fact regularly by allowing its Ministers, Deputy Ministers and even Cabinet Ministers to protect and perpetuate gender violence. Just yesterday, the ANC Women’s League President admitted that she knows many who have behaved worse than Deputy Minister Manana who has admitted to assaulting a women in a night club and has been accused of mistreating his female staff members. Yet she has done nothing to put a stop to these abuses.

The fact is that we will never put a stop to the scourge of violence until the SAPS is given the equipment and training they need to combat it and until leaders stop normalising and perpetuating violence against women.

Issued by Zakhele Mbhele, DA Shadow Minister of Police, 14 August 2017