Hon Chairperson, according to Indian police figures, New Delhi has the highest number of sex crimes among India's major cities, with rape reported on average every 18 hours. According to media reports, in South Africa, 144 women are reported to be raped, which means that six cases are reported every hour.
If one looks at these figures, mindful of the fact that according to the SA Medical Research Council's latest research only one in 25 women in Gauteng report rape, this makes it a major crisis that the country is facing.
I was shocked when I saw a media report saying, and I quote:
In the seven weeks since a young Indian woman was gang-raped in Delhi, prompting headlines around the world, there have been at least 9000 rapes in South Africa, making it 9000 in seven weeks.
Reports that South Arica is the rape capital of the world seem to be a fair reflection of the reality on the ground. The results of a survey done by the SA Medical Research Council in 2009 reported that one in four men admitted to having raped a woman and 46% confessed that they had raped repeatedly. This is indeed depressing and disturbing.
Another SA Medical Research Council study found that a woman is killed by her intimate partner every six hours, which is the highest rate that has ever been reported in research anywhere in the world.
To try and protect the elderly, particularly grandmothers, from cruel and brutal rapists, the KwaZulu-Natal department of social development has resolved to construct adult day care centres where people can drop off their grannies on their way to work and then pick them up later. Grandchildren who are attending schools would also be encouraged to leave their grannies in these centres that operate like crches.
Although we applaud the member of the executive council, MEC, of the province and her department for her attempt to address a very serious problem, the ACDP does not believe this is the ideal way to solve the problem of violence against the elderly people. The biggest problem we have as a nation is that criminals in this country do not fear consequences. For as long as criminals do not fear the arm of the law, they will continue terrorising our communities, particularly the most vulnerable, who are women and children.
The ACDP believes that the family, which is the most important building block of any healthy society, should be prioritised in policy and planning to ensure that they receive help and support. When families disintegrate, then the results are tragic, embarrassing and horrific. We are already witnessing this in our country. Violence against the most vulnerable, that is, the elderly, women and children is increasing. Loss of respect for life and authority is also evident.
The ACDP has warned for years that the legislation legalising abortion on demand, which targets the tiniest and most vulnerable babies, would erode society's conscience and respect for life would all but disappear.
The ACDP calls on government to start prioritising families. We should empower and strengthen families as they care ... [Time expired.]