The South African Police Service (SAPS) said the 90-day blitz to combat gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF) has yielded more success with the arrest of more than 170 suspects connected to rape cases across the country.

According to reports, the campaign was launched in April by the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development to fight the GBVF scourge plaguing South Africa.

SAPS spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Vincent Mukhathi said police are continuing to accelerate their response to combat and prevent GBVF through intensified nationwide operations across the country.

Mukhathi said between June 30 and July 6, 2025, police operations led to the arrest of 99 rape suspects. Gauteng accounted for the highest number of arrests, with 26.

“In addition, police arrested 73 wanted rape suspects as well as 16 individuals tracked down for sexual offences in various provinces,” he said.

The SAPS is also focusing on community mobilisation, enhancing better response, and strengthening collaboration with other government departments and community-based organisations in the fight against GBVF in the country, he noted.

This week, Mukhathi said police effected key arrests for perpetrators of GBVF.

He said on July 6, 2025, police in Limpopo arrested a 29-year-old man for the alleged murder of his 33-year-old girlfriend at Nailana village.

“He allegedly assaulted his girlfriend to death with sticks. He appeared before the Senwabarwana Magistrate’s Court on July 8, 2025, facing murder charges,” he said.

In Kaapmuiden, Mpumalanga, 37-year-old Sanele Fakudze, an Eswatini national, was apprehended in connection with the murder of a 4-year-old girl and her 28-year-old mother.

According to Mukhathi, the victims were discovered unconscious next to the road.

Mukhathi added that on July 8, 2025, a 40-year-old man was apprehended for the alleged rape of his 39-year-old ex-girlfriend in Thohoyandou on June 16, 2025.

He appeared in the Thohoyandou Magistrate’s Court on July 9, 2025, facing rape charges.

“These arrests form part of the SAPS’s intensified 90-day blitz to combat and prevent gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF) across the country,” he emphasised.

Moreover, Mukhathi said the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS) members successfully secured the following notable convictions during this period.

He said between May and June 2025, detectives from the Gauteng Family Violence, Child Protection, and Sexual Offences Unit secured 21 life sentences and an additional 1,420 years’ imprisonment for 40 accused individuals for crimes committed against women and children in the province.

A 22-year-old in KwaZulu-Natal received a life sentence after being convicted of repeatedly raping an 11-year-old girl in Mdantsane in August 2020.

In the Northern Cape, the Calvinia Regional Court sentenced a 40-year-old accused to life imprisonment after being found guilty of raping three siblings aged between 4 and 11 years in October 2022.

Samuel Boomfire Mbuyane, a 42-year-old hip-hop artist, received three life sentences from the Burgersfort Regional Court in Limpopo on July 4, 2025.

This conviction was for three counts of rape, committed in November 2020, involving a 9-year-old boy in Driekop village.

In another case, Mosala Benito Ellester, 22, was sentenced to life imprisonment for the rape of a 64-year-old woman in Phelindaba, Bloemfontein, in December 2023.

“Police will continue to conduct their targeted operations to address criminal activities, including GBVF, and ensure the safety and security of communities, especially women, children, and vulnerable groups,” stated Mukhathi.

karen.singh@inl.co.za

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