Police Minister Bheki Cele revealed the figure during a dialogue about enhancing access to justice for survivors of gender-based violence.

Cele said specialised police units are being given resources to deal with these crimes to improve the rate of convictions.

"In our response to the gender-based violence femicide, the police are making progress in resourcing specialised units that deal with GBVF cases with both funding and human capital," he said.

"We have family violence and child protection sexual offences unit that has trained specialists to investigate gender-based violence issues. 

"The FCS had made significant strides in securing justice for victims and its detectives continue to put watertight cases that secure multiple life sentences for GBVF related cases.

Cele said from the start of April 2020 to date, 21,203 cases of domestic violence were reported with 14,777 suspects charged.

"The first six months of this year saw 217 life sentences handed down to 151 accused from 200 dockets of domestic violence.

"While the FCS continues to be beefed up with more officers to handle the workload, officers within the unit and officers at stations continue to receive specialised sensitivity training in order to provide a professional service to victims."

eNCA