Programme Director
Limpopo Arts and Culture Association
Limpopo Arts and Culture Forum
Local Community Policing Forum
Student Union for Christian Action
South African Student Congress
Young Communist League
African National Congress Youth League
Ladies and gentlemen
Comrades and friends
Good morning.
Today’s march to stop violence against women and children brings to mind the clarion call of young people when they declared to the country that, “We are the future, no one can stop us.” I am not here referring to ordinary young people. I am here referring to extra-ordinary young people who are conscious of their place and role in society.
The young people I am referring to today would be reflective of the world youth uprisings of 1968 which in France saw students take to the streets with workers against the conservative government of Charles de Gaulle. In Britain university students occupied campuses, calling for greater democracy and student rights. The Prague Spring saw Czechoslovakian patriots take on Soviet tanks in an attempt to overthrow Russian domination.
In the United States, mass opposition to the war in Vietnam and the black civil rights and black power movements reached new heights. In South Africa, the South African Students’ Organisation (SASO) was launched under the leadership of Bantu Stephen Biko.
History bears witness to young people rising to the challenges of their times. Young people have never been found wanting when challenges were thrown at them by history. Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela is the living embodiment to the type of youth that make history. Madiba’s life is a story of how the youth can change the course of history.
As Franz Fanon puts it, “Each generation must, out of relative obscurity, discover its mission, fulfill it, or betray it,”
What I see today is generation that has not only discovered its mission but is demonstrating a willingness and readiness to fulfill it.
Your march comes in the wake of a national outcry against the escalation of violence against vulnerable members of society, women and children in particular. General outraged has met this escalation of crimes against women and children.
There is a justifiable outrage at the escalation of violence against women and children. Organisations and individual citizens have taken up the battle against gender violence which is threatening to assume pandemic proportions.
On the part of government many initiatives have been rolled out to mitigate and eventually bring under control violence against women and children. Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences units have been re-established to empower the victims of these kinds of crimes to come forward and report their violations. In support of the re-establishment of FCS units, over 2 000 Forensic Social Workers have been appointed to deal with crimes against women and children. These social workers will provide expert evidence in court.
Sexual Offences Courts have also been reintroduced to deal with the country’s rape crisis. It is expected that at least 22 sexual offences courts will be established this year, and 57 more within the next three years. The Department of Justice has allocated R20 million to this project under the current financial year.
The Sexual Offences Courts will guarantee that the wheels of justice move faster for victims of rape than it is currently the case. The successful prosecution rate in rape case will also improve remarkably, and will therefore act as a detterent against the perpetration of rape and other violations against women.
In an effort to ensure effective service delivery, support and necessary empowerment of victims, I am pleased to announce that SAPS in the province has significantly improved the establishment of victim friendly facilities (rooms) from seventy-one (71) to eighty-one (81) at local police station level. More park homes have also been purchased to address the situation at the remaining twelve (12) of the ninety-six (96) police stations in the province.
The ten rape hotspots in the province, which include the Mankweng policing area, are also receiving priority attention with numerous focused interventions already executed.
It is against the backround of this multi-pronged campaign against the violence against women and children that I commend your march. Your added voice against the scourge of violence against women and children is a welcome and commendable development. It has the potential to cause a ripple effect across the province, and give birth to a province-wide movement against crime in all its manifestations.
What is even more encouraging is your employing the arts and culture in striking a blow against crime in our province. We hope more artists will come on board and lend their talents to save the province from crime.
I am making a call to all the people of the province to break their silence against the violation of their rights as enshrined in the Constitution and other statutes of the country. Only by speaking out will perpetrators be brought to book. This will also serve as a deterrent to would-be perpetrators.
The crescendo of voices against rape and other sex related crimes, coupled with good detection and maximum sentencing will be indicative of our resolve of zero-tolerance to rape and the molestation of women and children.
Working together we can build a province where all the people are safe and feel safe.
I thank you.
