FCS in Germiston severely understocked
The Family Violence, Child Abuse and Sexual Offences Unit that serves Alberton has a severe shortage of the necessary supplies for their function.
A RECENT Parliamentary reply uncovered that the Family Violence, Child Abuse and Sexual Offences Unit (FCS) in Germiston is severely understocked, leading to a situation where the unit can’t perform at peak efficiency.
The FCS is the primary unit within the South African Police Service that handles cases of rape, sexual abuse and family related crimes within South Africa. Alberton does not have its own unit and makes use of a centralised unit situated in Germiston.
Among the reported shortages are 250 rape kits and 300 DNA collection kits that hampers the collection of evidence necessary to prosecute the suspects that are accused of sexual crimes. This severely hampers the number of successful prosecutions of suspects related to rape and violence against children.
Michael Waters MP, DA deputy chief whip, reported the amount of sexual offences reported by Alberton Police Station for the year 2016/2017 was 76 which was a 26.7 per cent increase from the previous years. Of these offences, 53 were rape cases which saw an increase of 39.5 per cent from the previous year.
The increase in these crimes only worsens the strain on the already undersupplied FCS and could lead to even more unprosecuted cases. Police do not separate the figures reported for child abuse and adult abuse or give figures regarding family violence. This means that the effect of these two categories of crimes on the FCS is undeterminable.
The RECORD is awaiting comment from the SAPS about what is being done to recover the shortages of the FCS. At the time of going to print no comment has been received.
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