Chairperson, hon Deputy Minister, recently the Minister of Police has committed to Parliament that all police
stations in the country will have rape kits by the previous Monday. It is extremely difficult to prosecute rapists or hold them accountable for their actions without the evidence of the rape kit. This is vital equipment in policing violent crime against women and children. Recently, the DA checked and we identified that various police stations are still without rape kits. We did a few sample checks and they are not limited to this, and I will name a few: Athlone Police Station in the Western Cape, Ravensmead Police Station in the Western Cape, Actonville Police Station in Gauteng, Temba Police Station in Gauteng, Hammanskraal Police Station in Gauteng, Vanderbijlpark Police Station, in Gauteng, Delportshoop Police Station in the Northern Cape and Barkly West Police Station in the Northern Cape. They are all without rape kits. This is a fundamental failure, Deputy Minister. Our police need to be professionalised and capacitated.
However these plans have now failed dismally and the Minister of Police has not come through as promised. In what position do these things leave your department?
The DEPUTY MINISTER IN THE PRESIDENCY FOR WOMEN, YOUTH AND PERSONS
WITH DISABILITIES: Chairperson, hon member, well, my understanding is that the Minister of Police has made an admission that there was
a delay in procurement. We all have since been going to different police stations in the rural areas to check what exist and what does not - the number of cars and do they have communication gadgets. We have been engaging the Minister. So I think it was last month when he said that there was a delay in the procurement. Remember when you want to get these resources in big numbers you have to work in line with the Public Finance Management Act, PFMA, and make sure that there is an open due process. Of course one will have to follow up. A month is more than enough in this issue of gender-based violence and femicide. If there are further delays, then we will have to engage further with the Minister. I know he admitted that there were delays in terms of the procurement process, but there is a commitment and there is a budget for all those. So it is a question of how officials solve this problem as soon as possible.