Chris Steyn (00:01.102)

A suspected serial rapist is on a killing spree in Ekurhuleni. By yesterday, five bodies had been found, four in Kempton Park, one in Olifantsfontein, and this morning, another one in KwaThema. With me is Juanita du Preez, the national spokesperson for Action Society. Welcome, Juanit.

Juanita du Preez (00:22.315)

Morning, Chris. I wanted to say good morning but it's very much not a good morning.

Chris Steyn (00:28.076)

Not at all: the bodies are piling up and more women who have been reported missing are still unaccounted for.

Juanita du Preez (00:36.795)

Yes, it's it's really terrible. I just think about all those families who now fear that their missing ones are part of those bodies. It's really, really bad.

And it's interesting that it's in Ekurhuleni because we have another case there. It's been two and a half, three years now. They found her body, but it was suspicious. They've still not had answers and another unit came on board and I've heard from other contacts that the cold cases and cases similar to this, in that in Ekurhuleni is thousands that they now have to go back and look at and what I know from the case is it was so poorly investigated, not enough evidence was taken from the scene, this is from the family, and then just the whole outstanding DNA processing is also holding it back…they continued saying that because it's an inquest, they cannot prioritize it so they or they said they’re prioritising it but we now know they didn't, and they kept saying because some of the DNA is outstanding they cannot continue with the investigation because of that. So why? It's so sad for that family that now that the bodies are piling up, now all of a sudden we get a a multi disciplinary task team investigating. Why now, why must we have six bodies for things to start moving around? We are in a national disaster for GBV if I'm not mistaken.

Chris Steyn (02:44.439)

Kempton Park Police Station is also at the top of the list nationally for kidnappings. 76 between April and June this year alone.

Juanita du Preez (02:57.571)

And I heard the police saying…women have to really be aware of what's going on. They have to keep aware of their surroundings and stay indoors basically. But we already know that…we're women in South Africa. Reports are coming out to confirm what we already know. I know I cannot go and jog on the street in certain places. Why should the protection only rest on me? and these women, some of them like the Tsontso who was a jogger, I'm sure she used to run that route a lot of times.

So now now we must not live our lives because the police are not protecting us and it's their constitutional duty. I know we have to be aware. We're not stupid but but now we have to stay indoors.

Chris Steyn (04:05.719)

Well, by all accounts, women cannot count on protection from the Kempton Park police station. I understand the success rate in solving crimes is 0.4%. Some people say the station is run by Nigerians. They won't even go there to have a document certified, never mind try and report a crime.

Juanita du Preez (04:26.363)

Well that sounds familiar. The the other case that I referred to is Dawn Park and I would tell people please never ever go there to report anything, go to a different police station. And this is also Ekurhuleni. And this brings us back to the whole big Madlanga Commission. Which province, which area was the one where things went wrong? Ekuruleni.

Chris Steyn (04:50.507)

No, this police station might as well be closed down. It would be safer for the community if it were closed down.

Juanita du Preez (04:57.745)

Yeah, because now they put the power in the hands of the ones who definitely should not be having the power. It's protected power abuse that they're doing there.

Chris Steyn (05:10.413)

Well, let's hope those earlier crime scenes were processed properly and that there is DNA that can be analyzed and that that DNA does not go to the back of a queue.

Juanita du Preez (05:20.155)

Yes, but then you have to keep in mind the DNA backlog situation in South Africa. In 2023, we've been on this all forever. In 2023, there was a report that came out that said 175,000 outstanding.

And then you also have to remember when the previous previous police minister Cele was in control, he said, no, no, no, we're working it down and it's better and it's improving and he showed the stats and everything. But he was lying because it was a ring fence stat that he gave. Yes, of course that would improve if you only focus on that. What about all the ones outside of the fence?

And now earlier this year the DNA Board actually came out and said no it really is bad. We are really behind. And we can trust them because they work with it. But the DNA Board falls under the police, falls under the minister.

So are they going to prioritise these cases because there's public pressure on it now? And why when they say in other cases okay they're fast tracking or they're prioritising, it doesn't really mean anything. When you fast track it means tomorrow you should have the results.

And we see it in movies or series work like that in other countries. but it's not far-fetched. If we get a memorandum of understanding and get public private partnerships, get private labs to help with the big backlog, then it's not a far-fetched movie idea, then actually this is how it can be done. But how do you prioritise when you're a hundred and seventy five thousand entries backlogged. How do you do that?

Chris Steyn (07:22.177)

And we know from the little bit of DNA that has been done that there are hundreds of serial rapists out there.

Juanita du Preez (07:29.753)

Yes. there was a another interesting report that came out…. Well I can't remember if it was a big chunk of people that were tested and or prioritized and out of them three and a half percent were actually serial criminals, rapists and murderers mixed in, but that was only a prioritised chunk of it being done. So it is a big problem.

Chris Steyn (08:01.612)

I think you stated at the time 486 serial rapists were identified in that one batch prioritised.

Juanita du Preez (08:09.797)

Yes, four hundred and eighty six just out of a is a small batch, it's not small like a thousand, but I mean in the greater scheme of things. Four hundred and eighty six they already could have convicted or they can be linked to another crime

But if the DNA database is not up to date we cannot link people to previous crimes. So you go in for one crime, there's no link to a previous thing. So the next sentence you get won't be stricter because they don't know about this.

And unfortunately in South Africa we have to realise that crime escalates. Somebody starts off smaller, you get away with it, you try something new, and the repeat offender rate is sky sky sky high.

So you're gonna come out as a criminal and you're gonna do a more serious crime, but it's not gonna be linked to your previous crimes, so you'll be out sooner rather than later.

Chris Steyn (09:16.5)

We all know a serial rapist and a serial killer will not stop. I don't know whether there's a group involved here, whether there is more than one person perhaps kidnapping women and overpowering them, but what a cheek of the police to tell women to protect themselves. How does a woman protect herself when she has to take a taxi to the township and walk home? How?

Juanita du Preez (09:39.235)

Exactly. It's all good and well to avoid certain areas, but if you don't have the luxury to avoid those areas, to get to and from your home and work, how are you supposed to protect yourself? You can't stay away from work. How do you live?

Chris Steyn (09:57.678)

Nobody is safe. Just yesterday an 86-year-old woman was buried. She had been robbed of her pension money, raped and murdered. How was she going to protect herself?

Juanita du Preez (10:10.661)

Exactly and what kind of a sick person does that to a granny? Who does that? Well, it's somebody where something is not right, but they also know they can get away with it. So she's a vulnerable, easy target. Take the chance. If I was a criminal, you would go for the vulnerable victim and a granny of eighty six definitely fits that description.

But it's it's just so terrible that in South Africa we have no respect for other people. Never never mind women, never mind older people. It's just as if nobody has any respect for anybody else.

Chris Steyn (10:57.602)

I take it you're going to stay on the police's case here and follow up to see how exactly they are prioritizing these investigations. I did have a look at the crime scene this morning and it did look like it was being processed properly. Police have increased patrols, or they said they were going to increase patrols and have a bigger police presence in the area, and the taxi operators are also patrolling.

Juanita du Preez (11:23.429)

Yeah, well great for everybody taking hands now after only six women had to die for that to happen. But then if the guys are watching the news or the group, because it does seem like it's more than one person, then they just move to a different area - and then do we need six more women to die and then we do it there as well. This is why we need the intelligence in…

Juanita du Preez (11:52.589)

…dthe police, the detectives going and work because now we're reactive. We have to work proactive to stop these kinds of things from working. There are informants, there are people on the ground who know what happens. If we have strong intelligence in the police, if we have experienced people in the police doing their job, then we can stop it. We don't need more inexperienced boots on the ground. Yes, it's great for visibility, but then there's ways to sidestep visibility. You just get to a place where nobody knows or there's no visible policing. Intelligence is where we have to go.

And then we look at the crime stats in Cape Town, Operation Prosper and the LEAP officers where they prioritize certain crimes and they connect the correct resources to solve that problem and it's already showing the bearing fruit of what we've been saying. Specialise and and we want to decentralise the police because every area has its own specific challenges and you need to know how to appropriate those resources to solve that specific problem. It's not a one size fits all for every single place in the country.

Yes, GBV is a big problem, but sometimes it's kidnapping, sometimes it's rape, sometimes it's sexual assault, sometimes it's murder. It's different things and if we decentralize then it comes back to intelligence because if you have the proper resources - and by resources I mean people as well - then you know how to tackle the problem and you can be proactive.

Chris Steyn (13:54.22)

I was reading posts from women saying that unless they have a job, they don't leave their homes, not even to go and buy groceries. They try to get it some other way. That is how unsafe they feel.

Juanita du Preez (14:09.572)

Yeah, this is now where we are. And I'm sure Ekurhuleni is in the spotlight now or Kempton Park or that a surrounding area is now in the spotlight, but it's not the only place where women feel like that. And yes, very privileged people have Sixty60 and Pick ‘n Pay deliveries and so on. Other people don't have that luxury. So what should they do to survive? If you cannot leave your house because it's too dangerous for you to leave your house.

Chris Steyn (14:40.206)

Indeed. Thank you. That was Juanita du Preez, national spokesperson for Action Society, speaking to BizNews. I'm Chris Steyn.

Six bodies found: Killing spree of “serial” rapist…