SAPS imposes rape kit crisis on Western Cape

AT THE culmination of the 16 days of activism for no abuse against women and children, a DA oversight visit uncovered that whilst the government was making a big song and dance about its commitment to ending this epidemic, the SAPS in the Western Cape, led by Lieutenant General Patekile, was not able to deliver a basic, crucial service needed to ensure that rapists and child abusers are convicted.

- NICHOLAS GOTSELL

By all accounts, the first thing a victim wants to do after being violated is take a shower. However, in order to ensure that evidence is preserved and can be properly collected by way of the SAPS D1 rape kit for adults or the D7 rape kit for children, victims are advised not to do so.

This advice is wel known - and so too the notion that the sooner evidence is collected, the better the chances of preserving it so that the police and, ultimately, the National Prosecuting Authority can build and prosecute a case against the perpetrator. If they are apprehended, of course.

For most South Africans, the phrase “rape kit shortage” sounds like something that should never happen in a functioning democracy. But in the Western Cape this is exactly what happened.

What we found was shocking, not only because of the sheer scale of the shortages, but because the SAPS leadership had repeatedly insisted that “there is no crisis”. According to them, the Western Cape had more than 3 700 rape kits. But that was only on paper.

When the DA walked into the Western Cape's SAPS Supply Chain Store in Epping on December 9, the shelves that were supposed to hold this lifesaving forensic equipment were empty.

A day later, at the National SAPS Supply Chain facility in Silverton, Gauteng, we confirmed that national headquarters did have stock and that, within hours of our oversight, a requisition was mysteriously rushed off to Pretoria: 1 540 D1 kits and 1 300 D7 kits suddenly ordered after 10 months of silence between these offices. In fact, when I arrived at the Silverton site that morning, the kits were hurriedly being counted for dispatch.

This was an untenable failure of the vulnerable members of our society - by the very people who are meant to serve and protect.

This Patekile-led failure also exposed something far more worrying about SAPS management in the Western Cape.