The influential women’s league of South Africa’s governing ANC has called for the castration of convicted rapists, the Daily Maverick reports.
It quotes a statement from the league’s president Meokgo Matuba.
She says that the idea of chemical castration, the use of drugs to curb the libido, should be explored, but also says “any form of castration” should be considered.
Ms Matuba acknowledges that there may be human rights objections but says:”[It] is our firm view that rape crimes violate the rights of the victims, disturbs society’s sense of peace, security and order, therefore the rights of perpetrators of such crimes should not supersede the rights of the victims.”
The release of the statement came just after the start of a trial for a man alleged to have raped a seven-year-old girl in a restaurant toilet.
The country has one of the highest incidences of rape in the world.
The police recorded 40,035 rapes in the 12 months leading to 31 March, an average of 110 each day, the fact-checking organisation Africa Check says.
