SAPS under fire for alleged shortage of sexual assault kits in the Western Cape
The South African Police Service (SAPS) has vehemently denied claims that Western Cape police stations are facing shortages of crucial Sexual Assault Evidence Collection Kits, following reports that more than 20 stations have run out of stock and that expired kits are being found in police storerooms.
Reports surfaced this week that Adult Sexual Assault Collection Kit D1 is unavailable at several Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS) units, with officers allegedly forced to borrow kits from neighbouring stations to cope with demand.
According to a whistleblower, the problem is not limited to Cape Town stations but stretches into rural areas, where access to forensic resources is already strained.
Responding to an inquiry from the Weekend Argus, SAPS Western Cape spokesperson Colonel Andrè Traut dismissed the allegations.
“Please allow me to clarify the matter: you were most likely misinformed, possibly by a member of SAPS who is not authorised to communicate with the media.
“There is currently a sufficient supply of sexual assault kits available throughout the Western Cape, and investigations into sexual offences are not being compromised by any shortage,” Traut said.
Despite this, DA NCOP Member on Security and Justice Nicholas Gotsell said the denials were troubling.
“If SAPS are denying the reports, it is worrying that there appears to be a disconnect between the officers on the ground who work with victims on a daily basis and those who sit in their offices and who are removed from what is happening on the ground,” Gotsell said.
He reiterated that, according to information received, at least one station had up to 70 expired kits.
“These kits are not administrative extras they are the backbone of forensic evidence in rape and sexual-offence prosecutions. Without them, it becomes exponentially harder to secure convictions, and rapists walk free because the state failed to provide the most basic tools required to build a case,” Gotsell said.
Gotsell added he had received multiple reports indicating that expired and missing kits were not isolated incidents, but part of a broader systemic problem.
“At a time when sexual violence is at epidemic levels in South Africa, any failure to ensure the consistent availability of these kits is not just negligent it is a betrayal of survivors who rely on the system to protect them,” he said.
Chairperson of Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Police Ian Cameron confirmed that he would urgently probe the claims.
“We will look into this, we need to get to the bottom of this,” Cameron said.
tracy-lynn.ruiters@inl.co.za