MEC
Shongwe appeals on women not to withdraw
cases of sexual abuse
Media Release
25 November 2009
Acting MEC for Mpumalanga Community
Safety, Security and Liaison, Mr Vusi
Shongwe has urged victims of abuse not
to
withdraw reported cases from the police
stations.
Shongwe was addressing people who came
to witness the Launch of the 16 Days of
Activism for No Violence Against Women
and Children campaign held at Mangweni
in the Nkomazi Municipality.
The MEC said people needed to utilise
government resources prudently by being
at the forefront in the fight against
crime.
“Our mothers and sisters who come to the
police stations to open cases relating
to abuse, should work with the police in
ensuring
that reported cases are successfully
concluded.
“You are not helping us when you open a
case today and tomorrow you come back
and withdraw the same case. This is
waste of
resources and it is not encouraged.
“When we talk about being frontal in the
fight against this crime, we refer to a
solidified partnership with the victims
too,” said Shongwe.
He explained that government had made
crime and corruption its priority and
was aware that it could not win the war
alone. He said government needed
participation of all stakeholders in
order to succeed in the fight against
crime.
Shongwe added that the provincial
government was concerned with the last
financial year’s crime statistics.
Mpumalanga province
recorded over 4 500 cases of sexual abuse. He said in partnership with
communities, government needed to
uncompromisingly
confront sexual abuse.
“Despite having a world-renowned
Constitution and a legislative overhaul
that safeguard women’s rights, we still
have among our
communities high level of violence
against women and children
“We need to ensure that the level of
awareness is increased so that negative
impacts of this violence are well
exposed. We will like to encourage our
people more especially the victims, to
expose the perpetrators,” he said.
As part of the campaign, Shongwe,
departmental officials, SAPS and
representatives of the Nkomazi
Municipality visited two
child-headed houses and a community
centre to show the support of the
department by giving the inhabitants of
those houses food parcels.
The newly appointed Mpumalanga SAPS
Commissioner, Commissioner Thulani
Ntobela said incidences of sexual abuse
were mainly
caused by liquor abuse.
He said that most crime took place on
weekends, from Friday to Sunday between
16h00pm to 04h00 am respectively.
“As SAPS we are here to bring a message
of hope that today is better than
yesterday. This campaign should not only
be for 16 days, but should become our
everyday job as the police.
“We need you to participate in sector
policing so that you will alert us when
you witness domestic violence since
police officers
cannot be in every street corner,” said
Ntobela.
He explained that 24 percent cases of
sexual abuse happened to people who were
between 1 to 20 years old and those
between
13 to 17 years made up 32 percent.
However those from 18 years old upwards
were the real victims.
The Mpumalanga Community Safety,
Security and Liaison department, in
partnership with other departments has
scheduled a string of activities to
generated increased awareness of the
negative impact of violence on women and
children that will run until the end of
the campaign on 10 December 2009.
Among others, there will be gender-based
violence awareness campaigns, human
trafficking awareness campaign,
marketing of
victim friendly centres and anti-rape
awareness campaigns.
Issued by Mpumalanga Department of
Community Safety, Security and Liaison
Enquiries: Joseph Mabuza
Tel: 013 766 4055
Cell: 082 678 1450
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