Crime stats: Sexual offences on the decline
Sexual offences have decreased in seven of the country's provinces, including KwaZulu-Natal which recorded a drop of 1.5 percent.
This is according to the crime statistics for the 2015/16 financial year which have been presented to Parliament.
The national rate of rape, contact sexual offences and sexual assault among other serious sexual crimes, was down by 3.2 percent in the last financial year.
The South African Police Service's Head of Crime Research and Statistics, Major-General Norman Sekhukhune says sexual offences have been on the decline since the 2013/14 financial year.
"When we look at the decreases we observe that in 2013/14 this crime decreased by 6.9%. In 2014/15 it decreased by 5.6%. And in the current financial year it has further decreased by 3.2%," he said.
Limpopo and the Northern Cape were the only two provinces that didn't show a marked decrease in the number of sexual crimes being reported.
Crimes detected as a result of police action #crimestats pic.twitter.com/LZvlnuQu2b
— SA Gov News (@SAgovnews) September 2, 2016
Min Nhleko: Two major subcategories of sexual offences are rape 80% and sexual assualt 12,0% #CrimeStats
— GCIS Media Liaison (@GCISMedia) September 2, 2016