Our government and especially our police ministry has failed the women of South Africa, which has the highest rates of violence against women and children globally, writes Ian Cameron.
Under the ANC, our country has transformed into the rape capital of the world and is now possibly facing the greatest human rights crisis of our generation.
The ANC has no right to celebrate the freedom of women, women's day and women's month. An average of 116 women have their livelihoods stolen from them everyday when they are raped and they have an almost 100% guarantee that justice will not prevail.
Imagine being the mother of a 5-year-old little girl that was beaten, raped and then murdered, knowing that the chance of justice being served is less than 7%? That is the case of little Chantal Makwena (5) from Rocklands, who whose body was dumped in a pit toilet after she was raped in August 2019. The same suspect that allegedly raped and murdered Chantal was arrested for the rape of a woman in 2018 and was out on bail.
South Africa has one of the highest rates of violence against women and girls globally, and a femicide rate that is five times the global average, with an estimated 12.1 in 100,000 victims each year. South Africa's gender-based violence statistics (GBV) are equal to a country at war. It is important to note that 2 695 women are murdered every year in South Africa ? that's one woman every three hours.
Because of incompetent officials like Bheki Cele, men like Nicholas Ninow can roam the streets of this country. Ninow destroyed a seven year-old girl's life before it could even begin when he raped her in a restaurant in Pretoria in 2018. He was not convicted because of DNA- evidence but was caught red-handed.
DNA crisis
In the plenary debate on the DNA crisis, held on 11 May, 2021, Police Minister Bheki Cele confirmed that the South African Police Services (SAPS) was already implementing overtime to clear up the DNA backlog of 208 000 cases.
"Our goal is to have 40% of human resources dedicated to addressing the backlog, and 60% of staff will handle new cases," said Cele.
It is now three months later, and the backlog has passed the 300 000 mark with no real evidence of Cele fulfilling his mandate and the SAPS obviously failing in theirs.
In the last year, South Africa has maintained its spot as the rape capital of the world, with about 132 incidents per 100,000 people. Tshegofatso Pule, Naledi Phangindawo, Alexia Nyamadzawo, Nolundi Dondolo and many others were victims of gender-based violence and were brutally killed at the hands of abusers in 2020.
More than 300 000 victims of violence in South Africa have been denied justice by a corrupt law enforcement cluster that cannot ensure that basic forensic procedures are completed. How many children like Chantal will still be subjected to rape and murder with no hope of protection or justice?
In June 2020, Cele appointed an oversight commission that gets paid to sort out the DNA backlog in South Africa, but they have only met once since being appointed. How do they sleep at night, knowing that their failed oversight denies more victims of gender-based violence and specifically rape from getting justice?
No example is being set as to what should happen to perpetrators that commit these horrific crimes.
South Africa faces a pandemic far greater than Covid 19, namely gender-based violence.
The ANC poses as the governing party, but is in actual fact a criminal mafia that have become professional in capturing state institutions. Under the supposed leadership of people like Cyril Ramaphosa, Jacob Zuma, Cele, Khehla Sithole, Jackie Selebi, Nathi Nhleko and Nathi Mthetwa, the ANC has become complicit in the country's gender- based violence pandemic. There is only one reason for this: government is led by an intellectually corrupt organisation that has become the most extensive criminal network South Africa has ever known. Law enforcement institutions have been hijacked for political gain by the ANC. The party abuses these bodies to ensure that justice never prevails. Not one promise Cele has made during his term as minister of police has been honoured, in fact, further deterioration is happening as I write this.
Ramaphosa should be ashamed of associating with a minister like Cele, who started his own round of police destruction when he was made national police commissioner as part of an ANC cadre deployment scheme about a decade ago. Cele was also found unfit for duty by a court of law when he was national commissioner in 2012.
Mbali Shongwe, a rape survivor tells the real story of being failed by the South African justice system. After reporting her case and going through all the necessary channels, the case was dismissed. She was told it was due to a lack of evidence but after further investigation she learned that none of the leads were followed, the CCTV footage that was perfectly positioned to witness the crime was not reviewed and the detectives refused to pick up her assailant despite the overwhelming information she provided to them after she conducted her own investigation.
"Not only did my rapist seek to silence and disempower me, but the system, that is designed to protect me, did too. The women of South Africa are tired. What we face daily is a scourge that we can no longer ignore. My rape has irrevocably changed who I am but unfortunately for my abuser and the justice system that failed me, I have emerged stronger than I was before. I have committed myself to the fact that I will never be silent. Until someone listens and the systems and culture change, I will continue to fight for the justice that I and so many other women deserve," she says.
How many more women need to die at the hands of their ruthless and violent killers? When is enough, enough? How can government justify spending another R26 million on VIP protection while the vulnerable women and children in our communities remain exposed and unprotected?
- Ian Cameron leads Action Society's community safety drive and is an ambassador for the #SafeCitizen Campaign. Ian is the founder of firearms.co.za.
To receive Opinions Weekly, sign up for the newsletter here.
*Want to respond to the columnist? Send your letter or article to opinions@news24.com with your name and town or province. You are welcome to also send a profile picture. We encourage a diversity of voices and views in our readers' submissions and reserve the right not to publish any and all submissions received.
Disclaimer: News24 encourages freedom of speech and the expression of diverse views. The views of columnists published on News24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent the views of News24.