The Democratic Alliance (DA) is deeply angered by the cruel murder of an 80-year old woman in her house in Middelpos, Upington, on Monday. According to police reports, the victim was found with wounds to her neck and face and she was thought to have been murdered at around midday.
It is indeed disturbing that, as we again enter the 16 Days of Activism Campaign, such tragic incidents of gender-based violence (GBV) come to light. Year after year, it’s the same sorry story, with no visible results in terms of tackling these crimes.
The Upington area in particular has become notorious for violent crimes against women and children. Last year, an 82-year old women was raped in Blikkiesdorp, and she later succumbed to her injuries. There have been many other vicious murders in the area as well. The question is when will this end?
One has to look deeper to the systemic failures that continue to fuel, instead of combat, acts of gender-based violence.
A reply by Police Minister Bheki Cele in October, indicated that 139 members of the South African Police Service (SAPS) have had cases of gender-based violence opened against them. Of the 14 cases of SAPS related GBV in the Northern Cape, at least six are in the greater Upington area and surrounds. We thus have to ask how we start to address GBV when a great number of those meant to be fighting it are implicated themselves.
In addition to this is the recent revelation that the massive backlog in processing DNA case exhibits at the National Forensic Science Laboratories (NFSL) is nearing 100 000 cases, in effect denying thousands of victims of GBV and other crimes, recourse to justice. On top of this, it came to light last month that there is no budget to fund the establishment of the National Council of Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (NCGBVF) and there is no timeframe on the legislation of the National Strategic Plan (NSP) to combat gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF).
In other words, combatting GBV remains mere talk, without political will, hence the dire lack of commitment to prioritise the things that really matter in addressing this scourge.
While fixing the bigger problems within the police service lie at the heart of improved policing and in turn combatting GBV, we call on MEC of Transport, Safety and Liaison, Nomandla Bloem, not to wait for the national government to address the systemic challenges within SAPS. Instead, she must rather direct her focus towards intently implementing the Northern Cape Crime Prevention Plan.
Women are dying today, children are being raped today and action is needed today, not some other day, when the national government finally decides to wake up to what needs to be done to fix the SAPS.