Season 4 · Episode 2

Ross Kemp: Extreme World: South Africa

It’s 20 years since apartheid officially ended in South Africa, but for too many of its citizens, life is still a harsh fight against poverty and other urban ills. Ross Kemp is in the Diepsloot township in Johannesburg, where rape has reached epidemic levels, and where some 45 per cent of reported rapes are against children. Where there’s no electricity for lighting at night, narrow alleys and ready access to drink, drugs and guns, women and children will always be vulnerable, but the stories Kemp hears – from victims, perpetrators, township vigilantes and those trying to help – make for distressing viewing, and leave him reeling, despite his worthy attempt to give everyone a fair hearing. And why do so few rapes end in prosecution? A permanent solution appears to be a long way off.