Pretoria - North West Premier Thandi Modise says strategies for the prevention of sexual offences against women and girl children need to be reviewed to curb the escalating incidents of rape.
Modise was responding to reports of the gang rape of a 27-year-old woman in Makwassie, near Wolmaranstad, over the weekend.
“We reiterate our call for united and intensified action against the scourge of rape and for communities to work with the police to reclaim our streets and neighbourhoods from criminals,” said the premier, adding that harsh sentences needed to be handed down to those found guilty.
Modise commended police for the swift arrest of the seven suspects who are alleged to have accosted the woman and her boyfriend shortly after they left a tavern in the early hours of Saturday.
According to the police, the group of men who were armed with knives took their cell phones and allegedly took the lady and left the boyfriend behind who ran to the police station to report the incident.
The men were arrested by police. They are expected to appear in the Makwassie Magistrate’s Court today on charges of armed robbery and rape.
Meanwhile, a 41-year-old man arrested in connection with the murder of 11-year-old Ofentse Mogale from Mmakau, is also expected to appear in the Ga-Rankuwa Magistrates Court.
The suspect is alleged to have gained entry to Ofentse’s home through a window and snatched her as she was sleeping with her younger sibling.
The body of the girl was later found in a neighbour's shack, hidden under a bed. She had been strangled and presumably raped. – SAnews.gov.za
