The Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Police has expressed its concern after the omission of disaggregate data on crimes against women and children, specifically murder, attempted murder, and assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm (GBH), from the fourth quarter crime statistics for the 2024/25 financial year.

Committee chairman Ian Cameron said on June 11, during its meeting, that it requested an explanation for the omission. However, the response from the South African Police Service (SAPS) was that although the summarised version of the statistics presented to the committee on May 28 did not contain the information, the ‘full complement of the report’ has been published on the SAPS website and was released to the public on May 23. SAPS said this report included the breakdown of crimes against women and children. 

“This assertion is factually incorrect. A review of both the summarised and full versions of the fourth quarter crime statistics confirms that disaggregated data on crimes against women and children is not included,” Cameron said. 

IOL also went through the report and did not find any information about the claims made by the SAPS. 

Cameron said the committee has always been of the view that the credibility of statistics is dependent on the tabling of all crime statistics in full, which will drive the police response, especially in the context of the SAPS adopting a data-driven approach to policing.

“The committee is deeply concerned by the absence of credible and complete data, as it significantly undermines efforts to assess the scope of violence against women and children and to develop effective, targeted interventions,” he said. 

Cameron said the presentation of inaccurate information to a parliamentary committee is a serious matter with far-reaching implications. 

Cameron has written to the Minister of Police and the National Commissioner of Police requesting a written report to be submitted by Friday, June 20, 2025. 

The report must account for the omission of disaggregated data in the latest crime statistics and explain the provision of inaccurate information to the committee during the meeting on June 11, 2025.

“Should a satisfactory response not be received, the committee will consider invoking its powers under the National Assembly Rules and the Powers, Privileges and Immunities of Parliament and Provincial Legislatures Act, 2004, to summon the relevant officials to appear before the committee and give evidence under oath or affirmation to resolve the matter,” Cameron said.

Spokesperson for Ilitha Labantu, an anti-gender-based violence (GBV) organisation, Siyabulela Monakali, said it was deeply concerned as the absence of this information

significantly weakens the national response to gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF), a crisis that continues to devastate lives across South Africa.

“This is not a matter of oversight. It reflects a deeper institutional failure to respond with transparency and urgency to one of the most pressing human rights issues facing our country. Between January and March 2025 alone, 966 women and 314 children were murdered. These are not just numbers. They are lives lost in a context of systemic violence, and to exclude this information from official reporting is to erase the experiences of victims and survivors,” Monakali said. 

He said reliable, disaggregated data is fundamental to crafting evidence-based interventions, allocating resources, and holding institutions accountable. Without it, public trust erodes, policy responses become symbolic, and the violence continues unchecked, particularly in under-resourced and marginalised communities where the need for protection and support is greatest.

“Ilitha Labantu calls for the immediate correction of the fourth quarter crime statistics to include a full and transparent breakdown of crimes against women and children. We further urge the Portfolio Committee on Police to hold SAPS leadership accountable for this failure and to put mechanisms in place to ensure that future reports are comprehensive, accurate, and fully aligned with the constitutional duty to protect the most vulnerable,” Monakali said. 

He said the scourge of GBVF cannot be addressed in silence or in the darkness. 

“The fight for justice begins with truth. Ilitha Labantu remains committed to ensuring that this truth is not buried and that the rights, dignity, and safety of women and children are not erased in the process,” Monakali added. 

robin.francke@iol.co.za

IOL

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