Cape Town - In the small town of Grabouw, reported sexual crimes have increased steadily over the past five years, from 39 cases to 65 last year.
The latest SAPS crime statistics, released last year, show that sexual crimes have decreased nationally and in the province but increased in Grabouw, where a councillor’s daughter was allegedly raped.
The family has been left traumatised and shocked as they all knew the two suspects very well and trusted them. For the period from April 2011 to March 2012, 65 sexual crimes were reported in Grabouw.
This is up from 56 reported cases in the previous year. Between April 2007 and March 2008, 39 cases were reported and the number of cases has increased each year since then.
The brutal gang-rape and murder of Bredasdorp teenager, Anene Booysen, 17, three weeks ago has again highlighted the issue of rape in the country, with civil society calling for tougher action to be taken.
Nationally, reported sexual crimes decreased to 64 514 between April 2011 and March last year from 66 196 in same period the previous year.
In the Western Cape, reported sexual crimes also decreased to 9 153 last year from 9 299 in the period from April 2010 to March 2011.
Cape Times