Programme director
My colleagues,
Minister for Basic Education and Minister of Justice
Premier of Western Cape
MECs and Councilors present
Leaders of various civil society organisations
Community of Khayelitsha
Honoured guests
Ladies and gentlemen
We are here today to mark the official start of the 16 Days of Activism Campaign for year 2010. This is the 11th year that South Africa is participating in this international campaign that is endorsed by the United Nations. The Campaign starts today to coincide with the International Day for No Violence against Women.
Over the past 11 years, the 16 Days Campaign has had a major impact in raising the awareness about the challenge of abuse of women and children in our country.
This increased awareness encourages reporting of these crimes. No one should suffer in silence.
Our theme for the campaign is: Don’t Look Away, Act Against Abuse
We know that these incidents of abuse happen at homes and in our communities. In some instances, a person(s) know that somebody is being abused somewhere. It is the responsibility of all of us to take action. We can take act by reporting the matter to the police, social workers or other relevant authority available.
All of us in position of authority - whether as teachers, church or community leaders - we are bound to ensure that action is taken to address a case of abuse. The Children’s Act in particular makes it illegal for someone in position of authority not to do anything when that person is aware that a child is or has been abused.
Therefore, to act against abuse is not voluntary, it is required of us by law. Our main focus as we gather here in Khayelitsha is to highlight the role that drugs and alcohol abuse have in increasing cases of domestic violence, children neglect and other forms of abuse of women and children.
We also have to warn all mothers that the use of alcohol and drugs like Tik during pregnancy will harm your baby. If you take these substances, there is a good chance that your child will be born with what is called feotal alcohol syndrome. Your child will not grow intellectually and that child will not perform well at school. Our children are our future, let us not condemn our children even before they are born.
Information from the Cape Town Child Welfare suggests that substance abuse was responsible for 80% of cases of child neglect. Research into the drug Tik (methamphetamine) in particular indicates that the users of this drug become extremely moody and irritable, aggressive and they suffer from severe depression. All of these symptoms contribute to violent behavior at home and in the community.
We therefore have to work together with the police to remove suppliers of drugs in our community. We know that police continue to make breakthroughs with major drug busts at our ports of entry and other sites in the country. We have to ensure that the kingpins behind these drug syndicates are arrested, convicted and they remain behind bars.
The municipality should also ensure better enforcement of by-laws with regard liquor trading licences. We cannot allow sheebens and other liquor outlets to sell liquor to people under the age of 18 years or to operate close to schools. As parents and adults, we should not send children to buy us beers and cigarettes. Let us not introduce our children to these substances that are harmful to our society.
Programme director, let me use this opportunity to commend the various non-governmental and community-based organizations working in this area to deal with the challenge of substance abuse. Government appreciates your initiatives and let us continue to work together to stop the sale and use of drugs in our communities.
The government is committed to address the challenges of abuse of women and children. Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Units have been established to ensure mobilization of necessary expertise within the SAPS to deal with cases of abuse of women and children.
Efforts to combat crime are a priority for our government and crimes against women and children have been prioritized in the strategy to combat crime during the festive season as part of Operation Duty Calls of the SAPS. Let us work together with the police to prevent crimes against women and children. Let us assist them in their investigation and ensure that perpetrators of these crimes are arrested and convicted.
Programme director, the Ministry for Women, Children and Persons with Disabilities has already had some activities as a build up to the launch of the 16 Days of Activism Campaign. We had the celebration of the National Children’s Day on November 06 where we launched the campaign to improve access to sanitary towels for vulnerable and orphaned girls. We launched the Disability Awareness Campaign which should also address the challenges of abuse facing people with disabilities. We participated in the commemoration of International Men’s Day where we encouraged men to play their role in the upbringing of children and mentoring of boys in particular.
From today up to 10 December, there will be a number of activities focusing on various aspects of the challenge of violence against women and children organised by various government Departments, civil society and other partners as part of the campaign. We will also use TV, radio, newspapers and other media to spread the message that the abuse of women and children will not be tolerated and to encourage reporting.
The closing event on December 10 will be addressed by His Excellency, Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal. Our focus will be on profiling the services that government and other partners have made available to support victim of abuse.
Let us work together to take the 16 Days of Activism Campaign on No Violence Against Women and Children to even higher levels this year. The Ministry will be working with civil society and other partners to strengthen and implement the 365 Days Plan of Action. Through this plan we shall address key underlying factors behind the high prevalence and vicious nature of the recent incidents of violence against women and children.
Let us work together to ensure that women and children can walk the streets of our country with no fear of being attacked.
Thank you.
Enquiries:
Sibani Mngadi
Cell: 082 772 0161
