Criminals that we allow to get away

SOUTH Africans are outraged by a lot on a daily basis, especially on social media. We are quick, and rightly so, to expose and condemn racism and call for action against those accused of corruption.

But the one scourge that also eats away at the moral fabric of our society — rape and genderbased violence — seems not to be met with the kind of outrage we experience in other areas. This is especially the case when the victims happen to be women and children from poor and disadvantaged backgrounds.

If there is any condemnation of the crime at all, it is only for a few hours — a day or two — without any real insistence that the matter be followed through to the point where justice is served and punishment meted out against those responsible.

The shocking case of a woman who was raped, in the presence of her 10-year-old son, in a minibus taxi this past weekend, is the latest in a series of incidents that show just how unsafe our streets are, especially for women.

For many of the women who have fallen prey to these heartless gangs of criminals, there is little hope — if any — that the perpetrators will ever be found, mainly because of the manner in which the police handle such cases.

According to Gauteng community safety MEC Sizakele Nkosi-Malobane, authorities were now investigating several police stations where police officers refused to help rape victims. This is by no means a problem limited to Gauteng.

Unless our police officers — from the most senior to those at junior levels — start treating rape and abuse against women and children as serious crimes that demand immediate attention, the battle will never be won.

But law-abiding citizens, too, have to play their part. It is time we said enough is enough. Not only by organising once-off pickets and marches when a heinous incident occurs or when a suspect appears in court. We need a much more organised and systematic approach.

For starters, we need to hold the police and those in positions of authority accountable. What practical steps are they taking to reduce the high levels of sexual assault in this country? What is being done to change the attitudes of police officers responsible for taking the victims’ initial statements when they lay complaints?

We also need to demand an end to the culture of illegality in the minibus taxi industry that makes it a perfect hunting ground and a place of refuge for rapists and other scoundrels.

For far too long the government has been afraid of taking a firm stand on the proper registration and regulation of the industry, which would guarantee commuters, whenever they take a taxi, that the person driving it, and its owner, are known to the authorities and can be easily traced if there is trouble.