Open letter to Bheki Cele from GBV organisations

DEAR Bheki Cele

WE WRITE to you wanting answers. Gender-based violence (GBV) organisations in South Africa stand together and want to know why? Why when we spend every waking minute of our days fighting GBV in South Africa with little to no funds, do the people that are meant to be standing by our side, the SAPS, turn their backs on not only their oath but their people.

While we cannot speak for every police officer on the force, as I have met many who respect and honour their country and their job, there are many who consider themselves above the law, and nothing is done to keep these officers in line.

Ten thousand officers have been charged with murder, rape and assault since 2012, yet only 50 of these officers faced suspension! We want to know why. To add insult to injury, you then somehow managed to release more than 96 000 convicted offenders on parole without their DNA being added to a national database set up to improve crime-fighting! The SAPS forensics division is buckling under the DNA backlog, which now exceeds 210 000 cases.

How many victims get treated with disrespect, how many victims are turned away because the officer on duty refuses to issue a case because there is a “lack of evidence”, how many domestic violence cases have to wait for up to three hours before an officer responds? Rape cases with ample evidence are taking two years to close. Have you once thought about the trauma a victim of rape must go through, waiting for two years to see justice? Justice delayed is justice denied, correct?

You sit back and watch carnage, chaos, and loss of humanity on a daily basis, yet you do nothing! Is this not your job, or have you forgotten the oath that you made to this country and its people?

In case you need your memory jogged, you may want to relook this:

We will act honestly and responsibly in all situations. We will always tell the truth, perform our duties with noble motives, and set an example in the communities we serve.

We will treat every person with equal respect and honour their rights as inhabitants of South Africa. We will not unlawfully discriminate against any person.

We will, at all times, avoid any conduct which would make us violators of the law. We will protect the inhabitants of South Africa against unlawful actions.

Seeing your shocking statistics and no solution and no shame to the fact that over 10 000 officers, under your watch, have violated this oath and nothing has been done, we ask: Is nothing sacred any more? Do the people of South Africa and their safety mean that little to you?

So here is your solution: with all the millions of rand that have been offered to GBV but never seen, we suggest that you start cleaning up your ship and bring back the word respect to your police force.

Your officers are in dire need of ongoing training, your police stations are in need of proper resources and trauma units, and you need at least to attempt to start making your officers accountable for their actions when these fall out of the oath that they took.

We cannot continue as we are because it is not working, and it has not been working for a very long time. Some days it is hard to keep fighting and it is hard to keep hope in a country that has lost its way, but we are not giving up and we suggest that you do not either.

Nothing changes if nothing changes and that change has to start with you.

FROM: SA WOMEN FIGHT BACK, WOMEN FOR CHANGE, TEARS FOUNDATION, FIGHT BACK SA, THE GREAT PEOPLE OF SOUTH AFRICA, PROTEST AS PRAXIS