To combat GBV we need a well-resourced, fully-capacitated and Cele-free police service
22 November 2022
Note to Editors: The following is a speech delivered during the 16 Days of Activism Debate in the Northern Cape Provincial Legislature this morning. Voice clip in English attached here.
I dedicate this speech to 34-year-old Esther Tawanyana, a member of the LGBTQIA+ community, who was gruesomely murdered after being raped by three men just last month. May my advocacy here today find and emancipate her soul amidst the ruins of this government that continues to fail survivors of Gender Based Violence.
Hon Speaker, Esther paid a costly price for equality and safety considering that this government is inconsistent with the values underwritten in the Constitution. Let me remind this House that ours was the country to adopt the first Constitution globally to guarantee gay and lesbian rights. Let me remind this House that since 1994, when the new government came to power, Parliament passed more than 30 laws to make sure that members of the LGBTQIA+ community are treated fairly and protected by the law.
Sadly, Hon Speaker, and to the detriment of so many lives, there are no rights to protect anyone in this country. Vulnerable women, children, the disabled and the aged are living in fear because perpetrators of Gender-Based Violence are granted bail or escape conviction on a daily basis to re-enter the safe zones of their victims - to instil fear, to cause secondary trauma and to commit revenge or hate crimes against their victims. And do you know why it is so easy for these perpetrators to recommit these heinous crimes, Hon Speaker? It is because our government is failing in its duty to protect its people by turning a blind eye to the blood spilling all over the province!
The Department of Transport, Safety and Liaison spearheads various awareness campaigns but spends very little on civilian oversight. Hon Speaker, contact crimes are still committed at the residences of either the perpetrator or the victim. I am questioning the effectivity of the programmes rolled out by our provincial departments. Surely public funds can be used more effectively? Hon Speaker, I think we need to urgently revisit our priorities as a collective. These campaigns are not working as much as we think they are! Utilise public funds to instead ensure that victims are offered sufficient and adequate support at our poorly conditioned Victim Friendly Facilities!
The state of policing in our province has safety hanging by a thread. Hon Speaker, for the first quarter of this financial year murder increased by 11,5%. Rape statistics continue to soar at an alarming rate and this is unacceptable, Hon Speaker. Our women and children are not safe and it is time that government immediately implements programmes that efficiently and sufficiently address the issues our citizens are facing. We cannot narrowly implement policies if we have no real measurement of how policies are affecting the people that they are meant to benefit. If this government really cares and really wants to bring about the change that we need, then it should immediately do away with campaigns that are proving inapt and insufficient for the needs of victims.
My observations from oversight inspections conducted at SAPS stations across the province have proved that our men and women in blue continue to be under-resourced in both human capital and crime fighting. However, Hon Speaker, I trust that Police Commissioner, Lt Gen Koliswa Otola’s “Safer Festive Season Operation” will be successful in its mandate and I sincerely hope that the Inter-Governmental-Relations between SAPS and the provincial Department of Safety will be proactive in law enforcement, as we observe 16 Days of No Violence and beyond.
As always, I am never too hesitant to share best practices of where the DA is governing, with this government. Please take note!
Should this province follow suit and adopt the LEAP deployment model as the Western Cape government did, it will reduce crime exponentially. In just one month 553 persons were arrested for various crimes in the Western Cape. I believe that if we deploy LEAP officers then we are taking a step in the right direction. As provided for in Section 99 of the Constitution, our men and women in blue should be granted full crime-fighting powers locally, especially in our rural province where remote villages are spread far and wide.
The DA stands firm that Police Minister Bheki Cele needs to be removed as a matter of urgency! Only then can we start breathing slowly when the chokehold of crooked leadership is completely removed and we can look ahead with hope that we will one day live in safe communities. Until then, I will hold my breath.
Issued by Ofentse Mokae, DA Northern Cape Spokesperson of Transport, Safety & Liaison, 22 November 2022
