The high incidence of rape in the Free State this past quarter points to serious shortcomings when it comes to protecting women in the province.
According to the crime statistics report announced by the Minister of Police, Senzo Mchunu, on Monday, the Free State has the most reported cases of rape in the country with 24 out of every 100 women falling victim to this crime.
Sexual assault also shot up by 32,7% in the same period.
The fact that drug-related offences also rose by 16,2% in the Free State shows that the police are currently losing the fight against drugs. Another cause for concern is the number of robberies reported at the Park Road Police Station, which increased by 3,8%.
The FF Plus is not convinced that the decrease of 9,4% in livestock theft in the province is a true reflection of what is actually happening in rural areas.
It is quite possible that farmers have simply lost all faith in the police and are no longer reporting incidents of livestock theft seeing as investigations rarely result in successful prosecution.
The FF Plus will insist in the Portfolio Committee on Community Safety that the national rural safety strategy be revised and implemented in the Free State.
Although there seems to be some improvement regarding certain types of crime in the Free State, the authorities should not be fooled by the cold, hard facts.
The focus should be on bringing about real change by ensuring that police officers diligently fulfil their duties and that police stations function effectively with enough resources, such as response vehicles, to better fight crime.
