Johannesburg - As the race for the top leadership positions in the ANC heats up ahead of the party’s eagerly awaited elective conference, concerns around the current administration’s handling of women’s abuse have also been highlighted.
President Cyril Ramaphosa’s contribution to the fight against the abuse of women and children was also called into question.
Recent crime statistics have painted a bleak picture of the country, further demonstrating the failure to inspire the vigorous protection of women.
It is no secret that the past few years have been hell for women, who have become the primary targets of South Africa’s pervasive crime.
It has been reported that SA has seen some positive impact from collective efforts to end gender-based violence (GBV). However, rates of GBV and femicide have remained stubbornly high.
According to the DA, Limpopo is failing to stem the tide of violence against women and children, with the SAPS second quarter crime statistics painting a grim picture of the province.
It was reported that there were a total of 1134 sexual offences, with rape, sexual assault and attempted sexual offences increasing from the second quarter of 2021/22.
The IFP is one of the political parties that has commented on the current crime statistics, criticising the SAPS for failing to respond to concerns about the figures.
“Police Minister Bheki Cele, in his briefing on the crime statistics for Q2 of 2022/2023, once again failed to inspire confidence that under his leadership, the Department of Police would be able to address the dire state of South Africa’s increasingly violent crime. In a meeting held with members of parliament earlier this week, the minister failed to answer concerns regarding the crime statistics. Instead, he was defensive of the corruption that is within the SAPS system,” the IFP said.
“This speaks to the level of violence that should be sparking the police service to action, as this level of violence is not normal in a society which is not in conflict.
“The IFP is enraged, saddened and disheartened by these statistics, as they seem to worsen each quarter. We do not care for the excuses made by the minister of police, as the comparison of these statistics to lockdown period statistics will not change the fact that these statistics represent South African lives that were lost. We need leadership in the Department of Police that is proactive in their stance against murder, not one that creates new excuses every time they need to report on crime statistics.”
South Africans also questioned how the police leadership could inspire such zealous protection of women and children between November 25 and December 10, when they had demonstrated incompetence throughout the year.
The Afrika Tikkun Foundation (ATF) urged the government to prioritise social engineering for the correction of some of the pervasive and persistent negative attitudes toward women.
“Rape culture is a cancer that needs to be eliminated from the fabric of our society. It is evident in the way we talk about women, the way law enforcement handles GBV cases, and the way society reacts to women’s violations,” said the ATF.
The Star