Ramaphosa’s efforts hailed

A political expert has commended President Cyril Ramaphosa’s government efforts to fight gender-based violence saying there is an improvement in the manner that the scourge was being dealt with since he took over.

Sheila Meintjies, honorary professor of political studies at Wits University, said it was good that Ramaphosa prioritised the scourge in terms of funding and resources.

She was reacting to an announcement made by Ramaphosa that the government allocated R1.6 billion to focus on gender-based violence and that 312 police officers were currently undergoing training to strengthen the family violence, child protection and sexual offences units within the SA Police Service.

The plan focuses on improving access to justice for survivors of violence and prevention campaigns to change attitudes and behaviour. It involves measures to strengthen the criminal justice process and to prioritise the creation of economic opportunities for women who are vulnerable to abuse.

“To date, 7 000 rape evidence collection kits have been distributed to police stations across the country. A project to reopen unresolved murder and sexual offences cases (so-called cold cases) will soon be operational. It has already begun in the Eastern Cape,” Ramaphosa said in his newsletter.

The president was hopeful that the 11 more sexual offences courts he promised would be delivered by the end of the current financial year. To protect the rights and dignity of child survivors and mentally disabled survivors, CCTV systems have been upgraded at 38 regional courts.

Thuthuleza Care Centres were being build in the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng and underutilised buildings would be converted into shelters for victims of domestic violence.

The clearing of case backlogs was a priority and as part of that the National Prosecuting Authority was implementing a 100-day rapid results approach to speed up case turnaround times. Courts with significant backlogs in the North West, Eastern Cape and Limpopo have been identified for roll-out.

“Police have not been doing a great job when taking statements from victims and often dockets went missing,” Meintjies said.

Ramaphosa said national and provincial 24-hour call centres to deal with complaints against police officials, prosecutors and magistrates on gender-based violence and femicide cases are now up and functioning.

To date, 7 000 rape evidence collection kits distributed to police stations.

President Cyril Ramaphosa announcing plans to deal with gender-based violence