EASTERN Cape social development and special programmes MEC Pemmy Majodina has fired a salvo at the country’s justice system, accusing it of failing South African women.
Speaking exclusively to the Daily Dispatch at the weekend, an emotional Majodina said the country’s justice system was failing women and children who were victims of persistent abuse and violent crimes, by “allowing perpetrators to walk free and continue with their dirty work”.
She said this after a 56-year-old King William’s Town woman was raped and killed last week.
A man who had allegedly confessed to raping the woman’s pensioner mother in 2009 was again held as the prime suspect in last week’s murder case.
The province has been faced with endless cases of abuse, rape and even murder of women and children in recent months, with Majodina saying police were doing their best to apprehend perpetrators “who are then let off scot-free by the courts”.
More than 45 cases of violence against women and children have been reported in the province in the four months since the year began, according to Majodina.
Recent gruesome cases includes:
l A 72-year-old granny whose naked body was discovered on her bed near Dimbaza;
l In February, a 29-year-old man appeared in the Dutywa Magistrate’s Court after he was arrested in connection with the rape of a woman at Gxara village; the victim, 38, was asleep in her home when she was attacked;
l In that same month, a 14-year-old schoolgirl was attacked and raped while on her way back from school in Ngqamakhwe; and
l Zukiswa Tede from Mlungisi Location in Stutterheim who was found murdered near a graveyard earlier this month.
Last week, the Dispatch reported on the murder of a mother and her two children in Ndevana village outside King William’s Town.
Their bodies, dumped in two pit toilets with multiple stab wounds, were found by neighbours.
The latest case was that of two teenage friends from Orange Grove in East London who were recently found raped and murdered after disappearing from their homes last week.
Majodina said this was more than enough.
“Personally I am torn apart spiritually because of these social ills. My biggest concern is that our justice system is letting us down … they do not prosecute cases, resulting in perpetrators freed, some without even spending time in jail.
“We need strong sentencing from them and for these cases to stop dragging for a long time as that negatively affects the victims.
“All gender-based violence perpetrators should not be afforded any form of bail.
“If a person is accused on two occasions, justice system needs to prove beyond reasonable doubt that that particular person is not guilty,” said the MEC.
Justice department spokesman Mthunzi Mhaga yesterday said he found the MEC’s statements to be “grossly inaccurate” and unfair.
“Gender-based violence is a societal problem; this statement is disturbing because it is a kick in the face of the efforts made by the justice system, to curb these sorts of crimes,” said Mhaga.
He added that the judicial council had between this year and last year handed out 368 life sentences to sexual offenders; he said this proves that the law is working. — /
Majodina: SA justice system fails women
Speaking exclusively to the Daily Dispatch at the weekend, an emotional Majodina said the country’s justice system was failing women and children who were victims of persistent abuse and violent crimes, by “allowing perpetrators to walk free and continue with their dirty work”.
She said this after a 56-year-old King William’s Town woman was raped and killed last week.
A man who had allegedly confessed to raping the woman’s pensioner mother in 2009 was again held as the prime suspect in last week’s murder case.
The province has been faced with endless cases of abuse, rape and even murder of women and children in recent months, with Majodina saying police were doing their best to apprehend perpetrators “who are then let off scot-free by the courts”.
More than 45 cases of violence against women and children have been reported in the province in the four months since the year began, according to Majodina.
Recent gruesome cases includes:
l A 72-year-old granny whose naked body was discovered on her bed near Dimbaza;
l In February, a 29-year-old man appeared in the Dutywa Magistrate’s Court after he was arrested in connection with the rape of a woman at Gxara village; the victim, 38, was asleep in her home when she was attacked;
l In that same month, a 14-year-old schoolgirl was attacked and raped while on her way back from school in Ngqamakhwe; and
l Zukiswa Tede from Mlungisi Location in Stutterheim who was found murdered near a graveyard earlier this month.
Last week, the Dispatch reported on the murder of a mother and her two children in Ndevana village outside King William’s Town.
Their bodies, dumped in two pit toilets with multiple stab wounds, were found by neighbours.
The latest case was that of two teenage friends from Orange Grove in East London who were recently found raped and murdered after disappearing from their homes last week.
Majodina said this was more than enough.
“Personally I am torn apart spiritually because of these social ills. My biggest concern is that our justice system is letting us down … they do not prosecute cases, resulting in perpetrators freed, some without even spending time in jail.
“We need strong sentencing from them and for these cases to stop dragging for a long time as that negatively affects the victims.
“All gender-based violence perpetrators should not be afforded any form of bail.
“If a person is accused on two occasions, justice system needs to prove beyond reasonable doubt that that particular person is not guilty,” said the MEC.
Justice department spokesman Mthunzi Mhaga yesterday said he found the MEC’s statements to be “grossly inaccurate” and unfair.
“Gender-based violence is a societal problem; this statement is disturbing because it is a kick in the face of the efforts made by the justice system, to curb these sorts of crimes,” said Mhaga.
He added that the judicial council had between this year and last year handed out 368 life sentences to sexual offenders; he said this proves that the law is working. — /
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