Durban - The South African criminal justice system lacks the ability to respond to victims of abuse adequately, resulting in secondary victimisation, says Ntokozo Buthelezi, the programme manager of Ikusasa Elihle Youth Development organisation.
Buthelezi was commenting after about 500 people, including members of People Opposing Women Abuse (POWA), gender-based violence (GBV) survivors, and representatives of victim empowerment centres, among others, held a march in Pretoria calling for greater support for GBV victims in the criminal justice system.
A memorandum was handed over to Minister of Police Bheki Cele and National Prosecuting Authority head advocate Shamila Batohi.
Buthelezi, who is based in Vryheid in northern KZN and whose organisation works with POWA, said police officers often lacked the expertise and knowledge to deal with victims of abuse. “There is a huge need for the department to train the police to understand the problem and respond accordingly,” he said.
When people go to police stations to report different cases, officers treat each complainant the same, he said.
“The police are the most important people who should be given knowledge of how to deal with a victim, especially sexual offences. There needs to be a quick response, we don’t want to wait for a police van, there must be a team ready to respond,” he said.
“We need to make sure that we challenge practices that seek to subtly promote or candidly support the issues of abuse of women, or seek to promote beliefs that demoralise and devalue women,” he said.
POWA chief executive Mary Makgaba said a collective effort and a holistic approach were needed to deal with gender-based violence and femicide.
“Government alone cannot manage this second pandemic,” she said.
Issues addressed in the memorandum included the lack of feedback on the progress of cases, secondary victimisation of survivors and police referring GBV cases to be dealt with by families at home, as well as poor attitudes of some SAPS members, among others.
Speaking at the handover, Cele said he would partner with the organisations involved to fight the war against GBV. He also appealed to families to stop forcing GBV survivors to withdraw cases.
Batohi said the NPA took the memorandum demands seriously and would commit to ensuring women and children receive justice.