Cape Town - The disconnect between the police and the justice system and lack of support services were some of the concerns that were raised by Nyanga residents during a community engagement by the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development in the area on Wednesday.
The area has been marred by violent crimes in the past month which resulted in the deaths of two young people including a gay man who was allegedly raped before being stabbed to death.
The engagement took place as part of the department’s celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Constitution with a focus on promoting awareness of constitutional rights.
Equal Rights Forum spokesperson Noluthando Jack said most people in townships were not aware of their constitutional rights.
She said this has resulted in communities that have been compromised by the justice system.
Jack said disadvantaged communities were also victims of the lack of synergy between the justice system departments.
“We have victims that get raped with all the evidence compiled only for the perpetrator to be released and told that not all the evidence is pointing to him/her.
“This has devastating effects not only to the victims and the family but also to the community.
“Communities need to be educated about these things because we only make assumptions that there is corruption and choose to take the law into our own hands fearing that the justice system will fail us yet again,” she said.
She said disadvantaged communities had to resort to protesting in front of courts to ensure that victims get justice.
Ilitha Labantu spokesperson Siyabulela Monakali said there was a 3% increase of GBV cases in the area since last year.
He said there was a greater need for survivors to access not only counselling, but also legal advice services.
Regional legal administrative officer Lwandiso Kwababana said the engagement was one of the steps by the department to raise awareness of the available services.
He said by knowing these services families will be able to know their rights to protect themselves.
“We have in the province a forum that looks at the interest of the LGBTQIAA+ community and hate crimes focusing on the rapid response to the crimes and cases already on the roll for prosecution.
“The government decided to have a strategy where we can have a system for SAPS to report the matters pertaining to hate crimes and for NPA to ensure that the matter is prosecution-ready,” he said.
Kwababana said there was a need for more of the community engagements.