Johannesburg - “We sadly live in a society where we say ‘don’t get raped’, as opposed to ‘do not rape’. We cannot accept and normalise rape as ‘inevitable’, and we teach rape prevention instead of consent.”
These are chilling words from the chief executive officer of the Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF) Response Fund, Sazini Mojapelo, who opens up about the prevalence of gender-based violence in South Africa.
Mojapelo cites different cases of GBV that sent shock waves through the country, revealing that more action is needed than words.
The cases include the brutal murder of 17-year-old Palesa Malatji, a Grade 12 pupil whose body was found in a park near her school in Soshanguve, outside Pretoria.
Malatji suffered a brutal sexual assault while walking home from school after attending extra classes.
“Reading about these heinous crimes, I was lost for words … What brutality, what total loss of humanity, and what heartlessness must be part of the perpetrators’ psyche to have committed these horrifying deeds on Palesa,” said Mojapelo.
The crime statistics that SAPS release quarterly also paint a grim picture of crime in the country.
It is reported and recorded that between January and March this year, a total of 10 512 rape cases were registered, which translates to around 116 rape cases per day.
While most rapes took place at the home of the victim or the perpetrator, 76 of the recorded rapes during this period were committed on school premises, of which three cases happened at daycare or aftercare facilities, 67 at schools, and six at special needs schools.
In a total of 47 of these recorded cases, the primary suspect was a fellow pupil.
“It is crucial that we educate our children and adolescents about values and the consequences of sex and unprotected sex, but most importantly about consent. We have to get them to understand their self-worth and teach them that saying ‘no’ and speaking up when you are being violated is a basic human right.
“Words, though, are not enough. Actions to break this cycle of violence are what’s needed.
“Our criminal law stipulates that any person who has knowledge of a sexual offence being committed against a child must report it to the South African Police Services. Yet, the problem with these statistics is that in South Africa, a very small percentage of rapes, and specifically statutory rapes, are actually reported,” she said.
The Star