NC police stations still without rape kits

CONCERN has been raised about the police being wholly unequipped to deal with the growing spate of sexual offences in the Northern Cap due to persistent stock outs of rape kits in the Province.

With at least two rural police stations not having any rape kits on site, the DA in the Northern Cape said yesterday that it was “deeply concerned” about the lack of stock of the kits.

“Following oversight inspections to four police stations, all of which were previously found to have zero stock of adult and child rape kits, I was horrified to establish that little has changed since the DA’S spokesperson on Police, Andrew Whitfield, exposed the countrywide matter more than two months ago,” DA provincial spokesperson Ofentse Mokae said.

Mokae said that the rural police stations in Barkly West and Delportshoop did not have any rape kits on site.

“Due to not having adequately trained police officers, they instead rely on the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Investigations (FCS) unit from Kimberley, which is situated 34km and 64km away respectively, to attend to rape victims. Rape victims thus give their initial statement at the said police stations but then have to wait for one of the two teams from the Witdam FCS unit in Kimberley to arrive. This can take hours, depending on the workload of the FCS unit and undoubtedly contributes to the victim facing secondary trauma,” Mokae stated.

He added that the Witdam FCS unit was found to be out of stock of the D1 rape kits.

“They last received one box, with 10 kits in it, two months ago. The D1 kit is essential for taking samples of bodily fluids and ultimately ensuring justice for rape victims. While the police use alternate kits in the D1’s absence, these kits are not as effective and ultimately impact on the successful prosecution of rapists. The police in the Province seem to have no idea when they will receive more of the critical rape kits. The issue is out of their hands, as it apparently involves a national contract,” Mokae said

He added that the DA would be writing to the MEC for Transport, Safety and Liaison, Nontobeko Vilakazi, to report their findings and to call for an urgent intervention with regards to the lack of rape kits.

“Until the basics are in place to fight the scourge of sexual violence that has gripped this Province, and this nation, we will unfortunately not see a reduction in gender-based violence,” Mokae concluded.