National police authorities say it apologises to the Krugersdorp rape victims for the release of their personal information after completing the investigation.
In July last year, eight victims were gang raped while they were on set shooting a music video near the mine dump. This was allegedly done by a gang of gunmen reported to be illegal miners, notoriously known as zama zamas.
Thirty two counts of rape, as well as 22 counts of armed robbery, have since been opened at the Krugersdorp police station. However, there’s been no convictions, which means no justice for the victims.
National Police Commissioner, General Fannie Masemola, tendered a public apology to the victims last night (Wednesday).
The apology from the SAPS follows the public release of personal information of the eight women, which included their names and surnames, age and physical addresses.
Following the incident, Masemola ordered an internal departmental investigation into the matter.
Police said an investigation was conducted and concluded. The final report found that, indeed, the personal information of victims was released inappropriately, but no ill-intent was uncovered. This, however, still does not justify the sharing of such information.
In their defence, SAPS said the information which was shared on various internal WhatsApp platforms of police sought to only mobilise all the necessary role players and resources in a bid to apprehend those responsible for this heinous crime.
During the process of tracing the suspects, the SAPS Management of Gauteng, the relevant district, stations and units were alerted of the crime and requested to mobilise resources to trace the suspects.
WhatsApp messages were used to communicate due to the urgency of tracing the suspects.
Masemola said, unfortunately, the personal information of the above-mentioned victims was disclosed in the WhatsApp messages on SAPS WhatsApp groups, which found its way to social media.
He said the SAPS regrets the disclosure of such personal information and apologises to the victims of the dreadful crimes for the information breach and the hardship caused as a result.
Masemola said the SAPS Management continues to issue directives and drive internal awareness campaigns within the police in an endeavour to avoid a repeat of such information breaches.
He added that the Management of the SAPS assures all people in South Africa of its commitment to comply with the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013.
“On behalf of the SAPS, I apologise unreservedly to the victims in particular and their families. Crimes against women and children remain a priority for members of the SAPS, and in the past financial year, 386 life sentences were handed down to perpetrators of Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF) related crimes, and during the same period, 17 481 suspects were arrested for such crimes,“ said Masemola.