Nkandla – The City of Empangeni on the KwaZulu-Natal North Coast has been named a regional hotspot for rape and gender-based violence.
The city now joins the likes of Inanda in Durban and Nyanga in Cape Town which were recently named by Minister of Police Bheki Cele as hotspots for rape and GBV.
The news that Empangeni had joined the club of wrongdoers was made public at the commemoration of World Aids Day which was hosted in Nkandla on Thursday together with an event to mark the 16 Days of Activism for No Violence against Women and Children campaign.
Nondumiso Mbatha, of the KZN Department of Social Development, said the statistics were worrying and there were signs that by the end of the year, the numbers would have spiked.
Video by Sihle Mavuso/IOL
According to statistics presented by Mbatha, from April to September this year the King Cetshwayo District Municipality recorded 414 cases of rape and most of them were from Empangeni.
Recently, the SAPS in the district told a roadshow in Eshowe that Empangeni was becoming a crime hotspot and a district rape capital.
According to Mbatha, on top of the shocking number of rape cases, there were 50 cases of sexual violence in the district in the same period.
In addition, 1 006 protection orders were issued against men and 40 of them were violated during that time.
To fight against the scourge, Mbatha revealed that the SAPS had conducted 29 campaigns to raise awareness.
These stats about rape cases and other GBV cases in the King Cetshwayo district municipality in KwaZulu-Natal are very shocking. A lot is wrong with our society, we have to stand up. pic.twitter.com/X9XmKUkeUg
“Mind you, these stats I am presenting are for one quarter and the year has not even ended. It means that by the time the year ends, things will be worse,” Mbatha said.
Speaking at the event, the district mayor, Thami Ntuli, who is also the chairperson of the South African Local Government Association (Salga), raised concerns, saying men must stand up to help end GBV.
“We have to stand up and say this must come to an end, it is not good for men to abuse women, it’s pure evil,” he said.
Eshowe and the township of Esikhaleni (Esikhawini) were flagged as other emerging rape and GBV hotspots.
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