Court ruling highlights GBV response failures at Belhar police station

A man’s failed appeal against his life sentence has flecked open the injustices his estranged wife suffered following a drug-fuelled rape and attack, which brought the woman within inches of losing her life.

The judgment in the Western Cape High Court has shone the spotlight on the beleaguered Belhar police station, where the victim - in a critically bruised and bloodied state - was left without help for more than two hours while attempting to report the crime.

In handing down judgment, Judge Mas-Udah Pangarker said the judgment should send out “a strong message that rape and gratuitous violence of the nature that the complainant faced, as do so many other women and children, are not taken lightly by the courts”. 

Judge Pangarker ordered that current station commander at Belhar SAPS investigate the circumstances and reasons why the complainant was not promptly assisted on or about October 15, 2019.

The estranged couple are parents of two minor children who are now in the care of family after the father was jailed and the mother finds herself back on the streets, having again succumbed to her drug addiction.

Police spokesperson Frederick van Wyk said Belhar SAPS is still awaiting the directive from the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) with regard to the matter.

“Currently, there is a victim support room that was revamped, where victims get interviewed and assisted with counselling. Members also get in-service training by senior members on how to deal with victims of Gender Base Violence,” said Van Wyk.

Judge Pangarker said the court had “stepped beyond the traditional role as the appeal court because of the horror of the (man’s) actions and the abject failure of police assistance when it was so desperately needed”.

In the judgment, the judge ordered that after the station commander writes a report after their investigation and submit it to the DPP, which should in turn then provide training to the personnel and police officers at Belhar police station on the proper and expeditious handling of rape, sexual offences and gender-based violence offences, and the treatment of victims and complainants of such offences. 

Judge Pangarker said the DPP may, if it deems necessary, enlist the assistance of the Commission for Gender Equality in respect of such training.

“The court was also concerned as to whether the complainant had received the necessary counselling for the trauma she suffered. Far too often victims of crime and women and children in particular, regretfully fall through the cracks of an overburdened criminal justice system when it comes to post-trial attention and ongoing counselling. We were gratified to be informed through the diligence of counsel for the State, that the complainant had received some counselling.

“(The woman) of her own volition, expressed to the court that she hoped that this matter may help other victims of gender-based violence and rape, as she wished her story and experience to be heard. To the extent that we have taken this unusual approach to the matter, we hope that this judgment sends out a strong message that rape and gratuitous violence of the nature that the complainant faced, as do so many other women and children, are not taken lightly by the courts,” said Judge Pangarker.

The conduct of the community, who ignored the woman's first plea for help when she approached a neighbour for assistance, was also lamented by Judge Pangarker. 

“This brings me to the surrounding community and neighbours whose conduct featured in the trial. The first neighbour, who notwithstanding a desperate plea from a visibly bleeding and bludgeoned complainant who begged her for help, simply refused to assist her, explaining that she did not wish to become involved in what she regarded to be no more than a domestic squabble.

“Such attitudes may not be isolated and given the high and pervasive levels of violence in the Western Cape, some community members fear for their lives when aiding injured persons. Needless to state, the broader fight against gender-based violence is compromised by such complex realities. Moreover, the real fears harboured by neighbours and other community members  and the reality of violence should not be underestimated nor ignored,” said Pangarker. 

Ilitha Labantu spokesperson, Siyabulela Monakali, said the judgment must serve as more than a footnote in legal history. 

“That a woman, bruised, traumatised, and seeking help, was made to sit in agony for over two hours without assistance reflects a staggering failure of duty by law enforcement. These are not just procedural oversights; they represent deep institutional shortcomings that routinely fail survivors of gender-based violence in South Africa."

Cape Times