Durban - STATISTICS for sex-related crimes were high at Inanda and uMlazi police
stations in Durban, because victims were reporting these crimes and seeking assistance.
The Inanda police cluster accounted for the most sex crimes in South Africa in the 2017/18 crime statistics report.
Inanda had 330 cases, including 278 of rape, while uMlazi reported 290 sex crimes, including 252 of rape.
The station was ranked second highest in the country when it came to rape cases. uMlazi station commander Brigadier Bongi Ntuli said reported sex crimes were high, and officers faced challenges in solving cases.
“We’re getting high volumes of cases, especially with regard to children. With women, most of the time cases come about because of the use of liquor,” Ntuli said.
“Where women are raped and sexually assaulted, most of those cases are linked to the abuse of alcohol.”
Ntuli was speaking during a DA oversight visit to the station on Wednesday. The party’s oversight visit to Inanda police station was blocked by the acting station commander.
The DA’s KZN spokesperson on community safety and liaison, Sharon Hoosen, MPL Bradley Singh and various councillors were expected to conduct the visit.
They were also due to visit the uMlazi police station, which also recorded a high number of
sexual assaults.
Hoosen said oversight visits were conducted to establish whether issues raised last year. This included the availability of victim-friendly rooms and rape kits at the stations, and to determine whether the police station was accessible to the community.
“But we were unable to answer those questions, because the acting station commander (at Inanda police station) refused to allow us to conduct our oversight visit as mandated in the Constitution,” Hoosen said.
University of KwaZulu-Natal School of Social Sciences lecturer Dr Lubna Nadvi said the reporting of incidents was positive, and meant that victims were not suffering in silence but using available mechanisms to get help and hold their attackers accountable.
“The actual number of sexual-assault incidences in these areas and nationally is probably much higher, but many people are afraid to report them due to the possible consequences or for emotional and psychological reasons,” Nadvi pointed out.
She said patriarchal attitudes combined with high levels of socio-economic deprivation drove the prevalence of sexual assault.
“Combined with substance abuse such as drugs and alcohol, the frequency of such acts increases.”