When asked by Member of the National Assembly, Alexandra Abrahams, to outline the total number of successful convictions pertaining to crimes committed against women, the Minister of Police, Bheki Cele, revealed the information in the Parliamentary Monitoring Group. 

According to his written response, 396 successful femicide convictions were obtained, while 316 successful intimate partner femicide convictions were obtained. These convictions have occurred between April 2021 and August 2022.

Abrahams also asked for the number of cases acquitted as a result of poor or incomplete investigations by the SAPS. Cele explained that he cannot confirm that the reason for the number of acquittals was "as a result of poor or incomplete investigations by the SAPS", as the reasons were not recorded. 

There were, however, 24 acquittals relating to femicide counts and 21 acquittals pertaining to intimate partner femicide counts. 

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The rest of Abrahams’ questions required the minister to give the numbers of cases withdrawn by the victim and/or victim’s family, cases awaiting trial, cases awaiting sentencing and cases still under investigation in each province for murder, attempted murder, assault with the intent to inflict grievous bodily harm and common assault.

Cele replied that the information regarding cases withdrawn by the victim and/or the victim’s family is not recorded by the National Prosecutor Authority (NPA) and cannot be supplied. The number of cases awaiting trial can also not be provided because they are not recorded. The number of cases awaiting sentencing is not available because they are not recorded. The NPA is also unable to supply information pertaining to cases still under investigation.

"NPA is particularly concerned where children and women are the victims of crime and deals with such cases as matters of priority," reads the reply.

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The Sexual Offenses and Community Affairs (SOCA) Unit within the NPA is assisting victims in the Thuthuzela Care Centers (TCCs) of South Africa. So far, 61 TCCs have been established throughout the country. These centres also provide services such as treatment and educational assistance to victims.

"Prosecutors in court are attending to these matters as a priority, though it is difficult to keep track of all such cases, especially when the crimes, as the question above indicates, are not committed solely because of the victim's gender or age.

The NPA is manually recording data on both femicide and intimate femicide cases. Regarding crimes against women, the NPA can supply data on convictions and acquittals pertaining to femicide and intimate partner femicide only." 

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