Cape Town - Minister of Social Development Lindiwe Zulu has revealed that the Western Cape is the only province with gender-based violence shelters.
This was after she replied to a question from DA MP Bridget Masango, who enquired about the number of facilities in the country.
The Western Cape is said to be the only province with six facilities donated by the department of public works, while other parts of the country have a total of 134 shelters supported by the government in partnership with civil society organisations.
According to Zulu, the other provinces have conducted site verification and prepared costing to operate the shelters in the 2022/23 financial year.
The latest crime statistics show that there was a total of 9 556 rape cases during the three-month period countrywide.
Gauteng recorded 2 054, followed by KwaZulu-Natal with 1 860, Eastern Cape 1 553, Western Cape 1 009, Limpopo 834, North West 777, Mpumalanga 691, Free State 6 017, and Northern Cape 191.
The top 10 police stations were Temba, Thohoyandou, Lusikisiki, Inanda, Mthatha, Delft, Mamelodi East, Tsakane, Tonga and Seshego.
Masango described this revelation as shocking given the widespread and growing problem of GBV in the country.
She further called on the ANC government to strengthen the fight against GBV. “South Africa’s women, children and other vulnerable communities are drowning in violence and empty promises. How many more times will President Cyril Ramaphosa promise to rid the country of this scourge without forcing his government to actually take action?
“This 16 days of activism cannot be another round of hot air and empty promises from the national government. South Africa’s second pandemic of GBVF requires action to address this cancer, and the ANC government must respond with the same vigour and robustness they initially promised with the Covid-19 pandemic,” she said.
Political Bureau