A South African Police Service van from the Diepkloof station in Soweto, Johannesburg, showing the 10111 emergency and Crime Stop numbers. (Photo: Dickelbers, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

Gauteng, the South African province around Johannesburg, has unveiled a plan to ring-fence its worst police stations for rape cases. The Gauteng GBVF plan follows the discovery of 12 women’s bodies in and around the city.

South Africa’s richest province is under pressure to show it can protect women. On Friday 2 October, Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi presented the Gauteng GBVF plan after a series of killings.

GBVF stands for gender-based violence and femicide, the killing of women because they are women. Gauteng is home to Johannesburg and Pretoria, the capital where the national government sits.

Twelve deaths that triggered a national response

The bodies of 12 women have been found since July, most of them in Ekurhuleni, the metropolitan area east of Johannesburg that includes Kempton Park.

On Friday, Gauteng police commissioner Tommy Mthombeni said police had resolved three of the 12 cases and identified persons of interest in three others, SABC News reported. Three of the women have not yet been identified, and a R400,000 (about US$24,000) reward remains on offer for information.

On Tuesday 29 September, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced a four-point national plan. Lesufi met the province’s mayors, municipal managers and police on Friday to turn it into provincial action.

Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, the minister in the Presidency, also spoke at the briefing. She said reports indicate “a trend of victims being killed by people close to them”.

What Ramaphosa ordered

The first point is a national case-recovery operation. Police and prosecutors must audit unresolved murders, attempted murders, rapes and serious sexual offences involving women and children.

The second point gives the police minister, the national police commissioner and forensic authorities 60 days. They must present a funded plan to cut forensic backlogs, with clear turnaround times for priority cases.

The third point requires every municipality to start a women’s safety audit and map high-risk areas. The fourth asks the trade minister to present a package against alcohol-related violence to Cabinet within 60 days.

An inter-ministerial committee and the National Council on GBVF will issue consolidated public progress reports every quarter, TimesLIVE reported. Forensic backlog progress is also to be published quarterly.

Ten police stations to be ring-fenced

Lesufi said Gauteng will give extra policing, victim support and docket management to the 10 stations with the most rape cases. They include Rietgat, Alexandra, Mamelodi, Diepsloot, Ivory Park, Dobsonville, Redhill, Midrand and Thembisa.

“If we can’t put additional resources… in these police stations, we would have failed the call that the President has given us,” Lesufi said.

The province is strengthening seven Thuthuzela Care Centres, one-stop clinics where rape survivors receive medical care and help to open a case. It is also supporting sexual offence courts, which house 144 victim-friendly rooms.

Nineteen medical-legal clinics will help prevent the loss of forensic evidence. The South African Police Service (SAPS) will expand its GBV desks to handle cases faster.

Gauteng will deploy 1,022 volunteer “GBV brigades” across 122 high-risk police precincts. The provincial Department of Social Development is adding 56 social workers.

A fifth commitment: places of safety

Gauteng added its own fifth point to the national plan. It covers shelters and other places of safety for women and children.

“We are mapping the shelters and identifying what, as a province, we call green doors,” Lesufi said. The province will audit buildings, staffing and funding gaps at these facilities.

All municipalities agreed to report within seven days on local hazards. These include broken streetlights, overgrown spaces, poorly secured parks, hijacked buildings, unsafe routes, taxi ranks and gaps in CCTV coverage.

A new intergovernmental committee on GBVF will meet every Wednesday to track the president’s directives. Lesufi said the draft plan had wide support from municipal, provincial and national officials.

How much money is behind it

Lesufi promised additional resources but did not give a new rand figure on Friday. The existing provincial budget gives a sense of scale.

Finance MEC (provincial finance minister) Lebogang Maile tabled a budget of about R179 billion (about US$10.7 billion) for 2026/27 in March. That was R3.6 billion (about US$216 million) more than the year before.

Community Safety received R2.3 billion (about US$138 million) for 2026/27 and R7 billion (about US$420 million) over three years. That money covers policing oversight, school and road safety, and GBVF victim support and case tracking.

Dollar figures use the rate of about R16.66 to the US dollar at the close of trading on Friday 2 October.

What it means for residents and visitors

Johannesburg is South Africa’s main business and air-travel hub. The new measures focus on townships and high-risk precincts rather than tourist areas, but the helplines serve everyone.

The 24-hour Gender-Based Violence Command Centre answers on 0800 428 428. Crime Stop, the police tip-off line, takes information on 08600 10111.

What to watch next

The first test is the municipal hazard audits due within a week. The second is the funded forensic-backlog plan, which Ramaphosa wants within 60 days.

The shelter audit will show whether places of safety have the staff and money they need. The quarterly reports will show whether the Gauteng GBVF plan reaches the women it is meant to protect.

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