Cape Town - Mitchells Plain, with a population around 311 000, has no Thuthuzela Care Centre, where rape survivors can go to receive the services they need such as an examination by a district surgeon.
Instead, they have to travel several kilometres to Heideveld to get the necessary assistance.
Organisations have called for more district surgeons in communities which have seen an increase in the number of rapes of women and children.
Denise Deelman, from the Mitchells Plain Crisis Forum, said people needed a district surgeon in the area.
“I know about a 12-year-old girl who was raped when she was younger who sleeps with scissors underneath her cushion. She does this because she is afraid she might get raped again
“This type of violence is mainly perpetrate by men, destroying our communities,” she said.
Faizel Brown, also from the forum, asked: “Why don’t we have a district surgeon in Mitchells Plain? Especially taking into the account (the number) of rapes we have. Why must rape victims go to Heideveld, which is quite a distance, to be examined? Sometimes people do not have travelling fees to go to other areas. The role of the district surgeon is to draw up a report about rape. He or she will also testify in court during the rape case.”
The provincial department of health confirmed that the nearest Thuthuzela centre where rape victims could go was in Heideveld.
Community worker Joanie Fredericks said a district surgeon was critical for Mitchells Plain “because what happens in some cases is that the victims withdraw the cases and the perpetrators go free, meaning that they don’t go to jail and commit the same crimes again”.
Last year, Stacha Arendse, 11, from Tafelsig, Mitchells Plain, was raped and killed by someone known to her and her family.
Randy Tango was found guilty of raping and murdering Stacha.