Pretoria - There was no reason to celebrate Women’s Month when women and children were still under threat everyday, said Virginia Keppler of Rea Thusa/We Help.
Keppler said the organisation was demanding that Police Minister Bheki Cele resign as they could not trust a leader who said a 19-year woman was “lucky” that she had “only” been raped by one man.
Cele had made the comment during an interview this week after about 100 men were arrested for the gang rape of eight women at an unused mine in Krugersdorp where they were filming a music video last week.
Keppler also accused Cele of having emotional outbursts when confronted for not doing his job.
“President Cyril Ramaphosa made a huge mistake when appointing him as police minister. Cele must take all his cronies with him who fail to uphold law and order in this country. And he must start at the Eersterust police station.
“We as women and children are in constant danger. The worst is that you are in danger when you are at a police station where you should feel safe and protected,” Keppler said.
Keppler said gender-based violence was at its worst, and many cases still go unreported.
“The community must support our calls by reporting these violations. Police are the biggest failure when if comes to gender-based violence. They simply do not care.”
The second demand is for all the corrupt police officials and those who cannot serve people in Afrikaans, which was the language spoken by 90% of the community in Eersterust, to step down.
“It is our constitutional right to be served in our mother tongue and that is being violated. They are the main cause of many cases being thrown out of court because they are illiterate. They cannot even write a docket. No traumatised person, victim of rape or any person who just fell victim to a crime can speak in a second language when he is experiencing trauma.”
Keppler said recently an officer fired shots at three young men when they approached the police station for help.
“There is video footage to support this; both Rea Thusa/We Help and Lioness Pride Movement are inundated with complaints on a daily basis about violations by police.”
Keppler referred to various cases that they had attended in the past couple of months, including the case of the previous acting principal who was allegedly assaulted in front of witnesses by the deputy principal of a primary school.
Keppler said the case was reported to the police in May 2022 and to date there had been no arrests or charges.
Pretoria News