The South African Police Service (SAPS) has apologised to victims of a gang rape that took place in Krugersdorp in July 2022, after personal information belonging to the victims was leaked, including their names, surnames, ages, and physical addresses. The apology was issued by National Police Commissioner General Fannie Masemola, who stressed that the SAPS prioritised crimes against women. The Information Regulator had previously ordered the SAPS to apologise publicly for violating provisions of the Protection of Personal Information Act by distributing the personal information of the Krugersdorp gang-rape victims.
Chairperson of the Information Regulator, Pansy Tlakula, also ordered the SAPS to take action against its members who were responsible for the release of the information. The SAPS was directed to publish the apology prominently in all major national weekly newspapers and social media platforms. Last month, the SAPS carried out an internal departmental investigation into the matter. While no ill-intent was uncovered, it was found that personal information of victims was released inappropriately.
According to National SAPS spokesperson, Brigadier Athlenda Mathe, during the process of tracing the suspects, SAPS management of Gauteng, relevant district, stations, and units were alerted to the crime and requested to mobilise resources to trace the suspects. WhatsApp messages were used to communicate due to the urgency of tracing the suspects, and it was through these messages that personal information of the victims was disclosed in SAPS WhatsApp groups, which later found its way to social media.
Mathe stated that the SAPS regretted the disclosure of such personal information and apologised to the victims of the dreadful crimes for the information breach and the hardship caused as a result. The SAPS management continues to issue directives and drive internal awareness campaigns within the SAPS in an endeavour to avoid a repeat of such information breaches.