Arrests don’t stop taxi rapes
Nkosi-Malobane says police now looking for multiple perpetrators
The scourge of taxi rapes in Gauteng has continued despite arrests being made for some of the reported attacks.
This was revealed by community safety MEC Sizakele Nkosi-Malobane, who said she was worried that perpetrators were not deterred by the arrests.
A spate of rape incidents came to light in March when several women spoke out about their ordeals at the hands of a Quantum taxi gang that raped and robbed them.
The incidents were reported in Johannesburg‚ Roodepoort‚ Soweto and Krugersdorp.
Nkosi-Malobane said at the time that nine women had opened cases and six men were arrested. She told Sowetan that the number of those arrested had since risen to 11 but the incidents continued unabated.
“You use an arrest as a deterrent with the hope that people will be scared.
“What worries me is that despite people being arrested and knowing what will happen, they still continue.
What makes people want to continue with something like this? What makes it scary is that the perpetrators are young men in their 20s. What makes you rape at that age?” she said.
Nkosi-Malobane said they were now looking for several groups of men who committed these crimes.
“The modus operandi was three men in a Quantum taxi would take women, rob them or force them to withdraw money from an ATM.
“In most cases there would be one that would rape .
“We only realised after three arrests that there were more groups involved. You would find that we have arrested people but still someone fresh would still be raped in the same way so we are not looking for one group, but several,” she said.
Nkosi-Malobane said they continued to offer support to victims who sought help.
She said nine women were housed at a place of safety and three had since left.
“Others decided to continue with their own support. We are preparing them for court and what to expect.”
Nkosi-Malobane said police had increased visibility and continued to monitor taxis to ensure passengers were safe.
She said in their engagements with taxi associations that had led to the placement of stickers in vehicles highlighting the issues of rape and abuse, they had stressed that “if passengers feel uncomfortable they have a right to get off the taxi”.
“[We encourage them] to make sure that they take down the number plate [of suspicious vehicles] and look at the people who remained behind so that they can describe them later,” she said.
Last month Gauteng police announced that they were offering a reward to anyone who would come forward with information that could lead to the arrest of more suspects. Lieutenant-Colonel Lungelo Dlamini said reported cases had increased to more than 20.