Condemn violence

THE assault charges against Mr Robert McBride, the head of the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid), are now before a court of law.

The presumption of innocence must therefore apply until the conclusion of the case.

Nevertheless, the case highlights the challenge of balancing parental rights to just chastisement of children with abuse.

This balancing act is made even more precarious in the context of a country where violence, particularly violence against women and children, has become endemic.

“South Africa cannot advance or create the culture of human rights envisioned by our constitution if violence and other forms of human rights abuses are not addressed.

Much of the violence that plagues our country, both in society and within our homes, is part of the structural legacy of apartheid and colonialism,” said commissioner Angie Makwetla of the SA Human Rights Commission.

She is responsible for children’s rights.

She said violence remained deeply embedded and manifests in many contexts and at all levels.

In schools where pupils assault teachers and teachers assault learners; in public where the police assault the public; where high ranking public officials (such as the recent incident involving the former deputy minister of higher education and training Mduduzi Manana) are accused of assault and in the numerous and recurring incidents of public protests that turn violent.

Media and anecdotal reports increasingly illustrate the slippage that can occur from parental discipline to the assault and abuse.

Similarly attempts to discipline learners in schools increasingly result in corporal punishment, which is prohibited.

All these incidents and others feed and sustain the high levels of violence that characterise our society.

Violence is behaviour which is learned through observation and experience.

And it is behaviour which can and should be unlearnt.

The commission condemns all violence in our society, particularly violence perpetrated against vulnerable groups.

In this regard the SAHRC will be engaging with stakeholders to find the best way of breaking the cycle of violence that permeates all levels of our country, so as to create an environment conducive to achieving a country free from the violent legacy of our past. Gail Smith South African Human Rights Commission