Concern as murder and rape cases among LGBTIQ community spike

The Justice Department is investigating how lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people are treated in the criminal justice system.

The Justice Department is investigating how lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people are treated in the criminal justice system.

Published Jul 1, 2021

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Cape Town - Deputy Minister of Justice John Jefferey has warned of the increase in cases against the LGBTIQ community.

He said on Thursday as at the end of June there were 42 cases being investigated and 30 were for murder and 12 for rape.

He said there was a need to pull all the resources to fight the increase in these cases.

He said as a response to fight hate crimes against the LGBTIQ community the Minister of Justice established the National Task Team to look at these cases.

He said the NTT met on Wednesday to look at the cases following the reports of the surge in attacks against members of the LGBTIQ.

“The NTT met yesterday and took note of the details of the crimes perpetrated against LGBTIQ+ persons. The NTT was informed that as at 29 June 2021, there are 42 pending hate crime cases,” he said.

• Western Cape: 9 murder and 3 rape cases (total of 12)

• Gauteng: 5 murder and 6 rape cases (total of 11)

• North West: 3 murder and 1 rape cases (total of 4)

• Free State: 1 murder case

• KwaZulu-Natal: 5 attempted murder and murder and 1 rape case (total of 6)

• Mpumalanga: 1 murder and 1 rape case (total of 2)

• Limpopo: 3 murder cases (total of 3)

• Eastern Cape: 3 murder cases (total of 3).

Of the 42 pending cases, 30 cases are for murder and 12 are for rape.

“Out of the 42 pending hate crime cases, approximately 29 hate crime cases were reported from 2020 to date. Of these 29 hate crime cases, 16 are on the court roll with remand dates with the remaining 13 cases still under investigation.

“Eight cases that have been finalised, some with significant sentences such as, e.g. life imprisonment for rape (Daveyton), 25 years imprisonment for rape (Ikageng), 25 years imprisonment for murder (Umlazi) and 14 years imprisonment for rape (Greytown). Some 14 cases have been closed as undetected due to a lack of evidence, but may be referred to the National Prosecuting Authority to review the dockets,” said Jeffrey