The Commission for Gender Equality (CGE) welcomes the judgement handed down by Judge Thokozile Masipa to Oscar Pistorious at the Pretoria High court yesterday. As a statutory body established to help strengthen and deepen democracy in the country, the Commission is of the view that the rule of law should be respected. The same respect should also be afforded to Judge Masipa.
The Oscar Pistorious murder trial has again brought the spotlight on issues of gender based violence (GBV). With 16 Days of Activism of No Violence against Women and Children fast approaching, we are hopeful that institutions will derive the necessary lessons and messages for maximum impact on their outreach programmes to curb the GBV scourge.
As part of its Constitutional and legal mandate to monitor court cases, the Commission is pleased that justice has been served in this case. However, the Commission’s Court Monitoring processes over the past two years have revealed mounting frustration as the justice system continues to be plagued by deeply embedded systemic constraints such as poor investigative capacity by the police, absence of crucial witnesses leading to cases collapsing due to lack of evidence, frequent changes of prosecutorial teams, failure to set court dates on time and many other factors.
The Oscar Pistorious murder trial has highlighted to us that the systemic issues that the Commission has consistently raised in the way justice is served can be addressed. We also trust that all cases before our courts of law will be given the same attention regardless of who is involved, particularly in GBV cases.
The CGE urges all South Africans to join hands in fighting the scourge of violence, and in particular, gender based violence. We need concerted efforts in addressing masculinity and patriarchy in order to eradicate the scourge of violence, especially gender based violence.
Contact Person:
Javu Baloyi
Tel: 083 579 3306
