By REGINALD KANYANE
The residents of Khaukhwe village near Taung welcomed the cordial visit by the North West Department of Community Safety and Transport Management. This comes after the area experienced a high rate of Gender-Based Violence (GBV) and stock theft.
One of the community members, Seanokeng Modisakoma said, they continue to experience a high rate of Gender-Based Violence (GBV) in their area and urged the government to come up with a strategic measure to combat it. Modisakoma said many cases might have been caused by treble challenges such as unemployment, inequality, and poverty.
“In many instances, most households are either child-headed or occupied by elders. We are subjected to poverty and unemployment. Many youths in our area are unemployed and heavily rely on their parents for survival.
“This sometimes creates mayhem where they will forcefully abuse their grandparents and demand their pension money. So, we urge the government to create job opportunities for the young people, so that they can be able to fend for themselves.,” she said.
Another resident, Kgosietsile Mogapi said: “There is a high rate of crime in their area and that needs to be dealt with decisively. We have livestock that we use for survival, but criminals are stealing them. We need the high visibility of police and ensure that the law deals harshly with these criminals.
“Most of them steal knowing that the law will be too lenient on them. Imagine, losing your livestock that one used to earn a living and no justice prevails? I have lost over six cattle and 10 goats without any trace. The police are dragging their feet in investigating the matter.”
The North West Department of Community Safety and Transport Management (DCDTM) Programme Co-ordinator from Crime Prevention Partnerships, Keitumetse Motlhatlhedi said, the visit was part of the Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (GBV&F) campaign coordinated by the Crime Prevention Partnerships Directorate in the department.
“Khaukhwe is one of the villages serviced by Pudumoe Police Station and is experiencing high levels of assaults and stock theft crimes. The activities of the campaign include refurbishing house numbers in the village. We have also profiled households in terms of their needs too.
“This will make it easy for the stakeholders to execute their jobs easily without the hassle of identifying specific houses due to faded house numbers by the time of service delivery,” Motlhatlhedi said.
The department said it will continue with the GBV&F campaign in all parts of the province.
The Pudumoe Police Station Commander, Captain Tshidiso Leboiho shared the same sentiments. Leboiho said they are happy with the outcomes of the campaign in Khaukhwe, which forms part of previous campaigns held recently in their precinct of work.
“We urge the community to report any cases to the police station and grant police officers space to deal with reported cases lawfully and refrain from taking the law into their hands. We have various stakeholders, who also embraced the campaign such as Pudimoe CPF, Love Life, Department of Health, Department of Community Safety and Transport Management and Department of Justice,” he said.
Meanwhile, South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa in February 2022 said: “The National Strategic Plan (NSP) provides a cohesive framework that will guide the national response to the GBVF crisis. The plan outlines a comprehensive strategic response to GBVF with a specific focus on violence against all women – across age, physical location, disability, sexual orientation, sexual and gender identity, and national identity – as well as violence against children, and how these serve to reinforce each other.
“In strengthening the plan, earlier this month, we have approved the amendment of the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act Amendment Bill; the Criminal and Related Matters Amendment Bill, and the Domestic Violence Amendment Bill.”
The Guardian 