IPID records rise in alleged police rapes

The Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) registered 116 cases of alleged rape involving police officers in the 2025/26 financial year, up from 95 the previous year.

IPID spokesperson Lizzy Suping confirmed in April that 116 cases had been recorded by the end of March 2026, according to reports by IOL. The same figure appears in the acting police minister’s written response to a parliamentary question dated 18 May, as reported by the Parliamentary Monitoring Group.

The parliamentary response records 3,913 new cases across four categories in 2025/26: deaths in police custody, deaths as a result of police action, rape by a police officer and assault.

The total number of cases registered across those categories fell from 4,137 in 2024/25.

The previous year’s 95 rape cases were reported by Suping to The Star, with Pretoria News reporting in January that 51 involved officers who were on duty and 44 involved officers who were off duty.

EWN subsequently reported that IPID had recorded an increase in rape cases involving police officers. It reported Suping as saying 72 of the 116 cases involved on-duty officers and 44 involved officers who were off duty. The Gazette could not find a published source independently confirming that breakdown, and the off-duty figure is identical to the figure reported for 2024/25.

EWN also reported that IPID had registered more than 5,000 police misconduct cases during 2025/26, including about 300 linked to gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF), with more than 100 referrals reportedly involving mainly domestic violence.

Those figures could not be independently verified. The only published figure of more than 5,000 cases located by The Gazette was 5,136 police misconduct cases recorded in 2023/24, reported by Weekend Argus in March 2025.

EWN further reported that KwaZulu-Natal recorded 60 GBVF cases, followed by Gauteng with 58, the Free State with 52, and the Eastern and Northern Cape with 27 each. These figures could not be independently verified.

They should also not be confused with IPID’s separate provincial breakdown of rape cases. IOL reported that the Eastern Cape led that category to March 2026 with 22 cases, followed by Gauteng and the Western Cape with 21 each.

The figures refer to allegations registered with IPID and do not constitute findings of guilt.