Cape Town - Community Safety MEC Dan Plato says he has noticed an increase in the number of cases where young girls were raped and murdered by men known to them.
In the last few months, he had been to three other funerals where girls and a woman had died in similar circumstances.
Plato was speaking in Bredasdorp at the funeral Anene Booysen, 17, who was raped, mutilated and murdered.
“The nature of all these incidents are worsening. Our society is sick and we need to find a cure as soon as possible. It is impossible for police to safeguard young girls against men they are familiar with. These girls don’t expect that a friend or neighbour would be the one to rape or kill them.”.
He said the only to way stop the rapes and deaths was to educate young men about sex.
He mentioned three recent rape and murder incidents:
- The murder of 16-year-old Charmaine Mare in Kraaifontein, whose burnt body was found last month with her arms and legs hacked off.
- Jennifer Williams, 12, who was abducted on December 20 and her body found a week later.
- In November, the body of a woman, who had been raped and strangled, was discovered in Elsies River.
Plato had attended these funerals or memorial services to try to understand what had happened in each case.
“It is not people coming from outer space, it is people from down the street. The women were okay to be around the men, without fear. She had no idea he would turn against her,” he told the Cape Times on Sunday.
He said the men involved in the Bredasdorp rape and killing had been well known in their communities and even close to Anene’s family.
[email protected] and [email protected]
Cape Times