The current wave of abuse, including murder, against women and children has a direct link to the apartheid system, which was fundamentally violent, Arts and Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa said yesterday.
“In recent weeks and days, the scourge of women and child abuse has come to the fore.
“These are some of the social ills that continuously affect our society,” Mthethwa told Parliament while presenting his departmental budget vote speech.
“This violence has a long history. Our country was taken by force and it was ruled by force for more than 350 years. Violence is part of the South African DNA and this need to be combated.”
Earlier, Mthethwa said the South African government is deeply concerned over the incidents of racism. “In recent times, racism has continued to come to the fore at times and rear its ugly head. Legislation is being tightened and progress made so far in terms of the mooted Prevention and the Combating of Hate Crimes and Hate Speech Bill.
“Once accented into law, this Act will criminalise all forms of bigoted crimes and speech.
“We have had 33 community conversations across all nine provinces in a bid to address the scourge of racism and other social ills facing society.
“Work is continuing apace to conclude these sectoral conversations with the view of crafting and adopting a common compact to unify our people, and strengthen the mental frameworks for complete emancipation.
“The department has presented a report from the 2016 community conversations to various government departments, so that they can action some of the recommendations proposed.”
Meanwhile, Police Minister Fikile Mbalula, alongside the SAPS, has been urged to take up children's issues seriously ahead of National Child Protection Week, which runs from May 26 to June 2.
Shocking findings by child protection activists yesterday revealed that while child abandonment cases have slightly declined, a new trend known as “anonymous abandonments” is on the rise with little chance of children being reunited with their biological families.
“In the past it used to be that children were left in hospitals and at children's homes and officials would have the mother's details.
“Now more and more children are left in the veld and in dangerous zones with nothing, not even a note,” child activist Dee Blackie said yesterday at the Princess Alice Adoption Home in Westcliff, Joburg.
Blackie was speaking at the launch of her research on the incidence of child abandonment.
According to figures, two out of three abandoned babies die.
In 2010, it was recorded that up to 3 000 babies were abandoned.
According to Blackie, as part of the research, a total of 26 organisations representing 32 NGOs which run Child and Youth Care centres, took part in the study to ascertain real figures of how many children are in fact “thrown away” by their parents, as no real or updated numbers currently exist in the country.
She said reasons cited by child protection officers for the increase in anonymous abandonment includes a lack of support or social services for foreign mothers in government departments of Justice, Home Affairs, Health, Social Development and the SAPS.