City prison officials march against abuse

OFFICIALS at the Tswelopele and Bougroep correctional centres pledged their support in the fight against women and child abuse when they marched to the Galeshewe Magistrate’s Court this week, where they handed over a memorandum.

The march was initiated by Stephen Goeieman, a correctional services employee, and he said the aim of the event was to showcase support for those living with and affected by abuse.

Goeieman said that the recent reports of women and child abuse sparked the idea.

“There seems to be a trend currently where we watch and read news reports about women and children being killed daily. This is very worrisome and we decided that it was time to put our voice behind the cause,” said Goeieman.

“Women and children in our communities continue to be abused, killed and marginalised and treated as third-class citizens. They are subjected to substandard services which continue to degrade their lives, while men continue to be free and enjoy all the rights of the constitution. The march was one way that even men at the department could show solidarity with women and state that they have had enough of the abuse of the vulnerable in our society.”

Goeieman said the march was a follow-up to an event held with inmates at the centres.

“We had an event with the inmates last week where we educated and raised awareness regarding women and child abuse.

“The inmates acknowledged that some of them had been convicted of crimes against women and children but wanted to express their remorse.

“The march with the inmates was held under the theme #MenToChange, which carried the message that rehabilitation is possible.”

He said they were planning on building on the event in the future.

“We aim to intensify our mandatory departmental programmes such as the sexual offenders programmes and HIV/Aids peer educator programmes. We would also like to include other stakeholders, such as the South African Police Service (SAPS), South African National Defence Force (SANDF), as well as traffic officials, when hosting future programmes.

“All men and women in uniform should demonstrate their support to not only uphold the law but also to protect and stand in unity with the vulnerable in our society,” Goeieman said.

The head of Tswelopele Correctional Centre, Hendrik Johannes, said that the memorandum handed to the court highlighted the urgency of the problem and how all role-players should come together to fight abuse.

“The abuse of our children and women, especially the elderly, is a disgrace to the nation.

“As officials we need to have monthly crime-prevention programmes to ensure that more cases are recorded for prosecution,” Johannes said.