Pretoria – National Police Commissioner, General Fannie Masemola, has apologised to eight rape victims after their personal details, including their names, age, and physical addresses were leaked on social media.
The eight women were raped in July 2022, in Krugersdorp.
“On behalf of the SAPS, I apologise unreservedly to the victims in particular and their families. Crimes against women and children remain a priority for members of the SAPS and in the past financial year, 386 life sentences were handed down to perpetrators of Gender Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF) related crimes and during the same period 17 481 suspects were arrested for such crimes, “ said Masemola.
According to police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe, tMasemola ordered an internal departmental investigation into the matter after the incident.
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“The investigation was conducted and concluded. The final report found that indeed the personal information of victims was released inappropriately but no ill-intent was uncovered. This however still does not justify the sharing of such information,” Mathe said.
“The information which was shared on various internal WhatsApp platforms of the SAPS sought to only mobilise all the necessary role players and resources in a bid to apprehend those responsible for this heinous crime.
He added: “During the process of tracing the suspects the SAPS Management of Gauteng, the relevant district, stations and units were alerted of the crime and requested to mobilize resources to trace the suspects.
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“WhatsApp messages were used to communicate due to the urgency of tracing the suspects.
“Unfortunately, personal information of the above-mentioned victims were disclosed in the WhatsApp messages on SAPS WhatsApp groups, which found its way to social media. The SAPS regrets the disclosure of such personal information and apologises to the victims of the dreadful crimes for the information breach and the hardship caused as a result.”
The Management at SAPS assured all people in South Africa of its commitment to comply with the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013.
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Compiled by Junaid Benjamin
