The Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Social Development is demanding that harsher sentences be meted out to those who are sexually abusing children and people with mental disabilities.
"We are dismayed at the spate of rape cases involving mentally-disabled children and want the law to be rigorously implemented when handling with these cases. We appeal to the court not to grant these perpetrators bail since they can intimidate and harass the alleged victims. Perpetrators of these hideous crimes must be locked away for a very long time. They must suffer for their acts of taking advantage of the vulnerable," said Ms Yolanda Botha, Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Social Development.
This comes after the recent rape incidents involving two mentally disabled children a Soweto teenage girl who was allegedly gang-raped and a 17-year-old boy who was allegedly raped by a teenage girl and a woman. There was also another rape incident involving a disabled man in Limpopo in March. The mentally-disabled man was sodomised by a friend. The perpetrator was sentenced to life imprisonment, a ruling welcomed by the chairperson.
"Handing down harsher sentences for these crimes will certainly warn others out there who might have the same intentions of taking advantage of the disabled. They would see that the law doesn’t play, it takes these crimes seriously and deals with them decisively," said Ms Botha.
She said in most cases perpetrators were known to the victims. "These are people who are supposed to protect the victims from strangers and harmful treatment, but what you see here is that it is the same people who are aware of the victims’ conditions are the ones taking advantage of their vulnerability," she added.
The Chairperson called on all communities to be on the alert and report such heinous acts to the relevant authorities. "We cannot and must not allow the heartless acts to perpetuate without any recourse. We need to protect the rights of our children and most importantly, the rights of the disabled as they are the most vulnerable in our society."
Ms Botha also appealed to parents to be always aware of their children's whereabouts and to make sure that at all times their children were being looked after by a "trustworthy" person.
For further enquiries or interviews with the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Social Development, please contact:
Temba Gubula (Mr)
Tel: 021 403 8307
Fax: 021 403 3931
Cell: 078 735 8809
