DA calls for emergency meeting on child rapes

By Amy Musgrave

The Democratic Alliance wants an emergency meeting of the portfolio committees on police, social development and justice so that they can look at coordinated interventions to deal with child rapes and other violent offences.

In August, Police Minister Senzo Mchunu revealed in reply to a DA parliamentary question that between the 2018/19 and 2023/24 financial years, 106,001 rape cases involving children were reported. That averages around 48 rape cases a day.

A total of 22,722 sexual assault cases were reported for the same period, averaging at 10 cases per day.

And 91 children were raped at school between April and June this year.

“While these statistics are shocking, not all rapes are reported, pointing to an even greater crisis than the numbers alone indicate,” DA deputy police spokesperson Lisa Schickerling said on Sunday.

“Government needs to identify a child safety strategy, build partnerships with NGOs and develop