- Between April 2018 and December 2023, over 274,000 criminal cases in the Western Cape were closed due to lack of evidence, including over 6,000 rape and sexual assault cases.
- This troubling situation highlights significant issues in the management and capacity of the South African Police Service, especially during Women’s Month.
- The Democratic Alliance has called for urgent intervention and a full investigation into these unresolved cases and missing dockets.
A shocking revelation by the current Minister of Police, Senzo Mchunu, last week showed a total of 274 370 criminal cases closed in the Western Cape between April 2018 and December 2023 without result, due to insufficient evidence or leads.
These include 5 161 rape cases and 975 sexual-assault cases, a grim picture in light of the country’s Women’s Month celebrations.
If one breaks down the national numbers, approximately 974 cases of rape and sexual assault are closed without result every month, according to Lisa Schickerling, Democratic Alliance (DA) deputy spokesperson on police.
“This means an average of about 32 victims of rape and sexual assault lose a chance at obtaining justice every day,” she said in a statement to the media on Sunday. “This is a deplorable state of affairs that requires urgent intervention from both the Minister and senior police management to ensure cases of gender-based violence and violence against women are treated with the seriousness and care that they deserve.”
Schickerling said the former Minister of Police, Bheki Cele, in May this year replied to a question asserting the same, that nationally millions of case dockets were closed without result in this period.
PAIA request
After submitting a request for information under the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) to obtain further details on these dockets Mchunu, on 7 August, furnished the DA with a detailed breakdown of these dockets.
“The information furnished by the Minister painted a disturbing picture, particularly in Women’s Month,” said Schickerling, “and highlighted key areas of concern in both docket management and the capacity and staffing shortages in the South African Police Service’s detective services.”
Other unresolved cases in the province, according to the report, are 10 035 for murder, 5 421, for attempted murder, 13 363 for assault GBH, 49 083 for aggravated robbery, 973 for kidnapping, 10 849 for carjacking, 10 125 for house robbery, 35 981 for business burglary and 132 467 for residential burglary.
Regarding case dockets lost from police offices nationwide, Schickerling said the highest numbers belong to dockets in cases of murder, assault GBH and aggravated robbery. In the Western Cape 21 open case dockets were lost between March 2023 and December 2023, according to Cele’s initial report.
She called on the Minister and National Commissioner to launch a full-scale investigation into these missing and stolen dockets.
“The DA will write to the chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Police to request that the Minister and National Commissioner be brought before it to discuss these matters and present their plans to remedy these critical failures within the police.”
