MEC LEADS FIGHT AGAINST GBVF

BY STAFF REPORTER
Middleburg: MEC for Mpumalanga Department of Social Development, Lindiwe Ntshalintshali, said the number of Gender Based Violence (GBV) during the Covid-19 pandemic period in the province.
Ntshalintshali was speaking during the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence Campaign, held on Friday 10 December at the Iraq Taxi Rank in Middleburg. According to crime stats for the 1st quarter of 2021/2022, 10 006 people were raped between April and June 2021. This is an increase of 4 201 cases, amounting to a 72.4% increase, compared to the reporting period. A sample of 5 439 rape cases revealed that 3 766 of the rape incidents took place at the home of the victim or the home of the rapist and 487 rape cases were domestic violence-related.
In just three months, between July and September 2021, 9 556 people, most of whom were women, were raped. This is 7% more than in the previous reporting period. Of the nearly 73 000 assault cases reported during this period, more than 13 000 were domestic violence-related. The rate of child murders has climbed by nearly a third compared to the previous reporting period. “But we are happy that the police are hands-on and dealing with these crimes,” she said. Ntshalintshali said they are discouraging women to who say if they go to police station they are told to go back home and talk about is as a family.
“Next time might be not going back, they might kill you. Hence we say allow the law and our law enforcement agencies to assist you,” she said. The MEC indicated that her department has social workers and safety shelters where they put victims temporarily when they deal with their challenges. “Everybody has a right to be safe and treated with dignity. That is why we are saying everybody is protected by the constitution of the Republic of South Africa,” she said. Asked if her department has plans in place to protect sex workers’ rights, a business sector that seen spiking number of GBV cases in the country, Ntshalintshali said the department has a section that deals with sex workers issues where they work with the police and Health Department to provide workshops to the affected group. “We provide them with counselling and encourage the police to not turn them away. And we have workshops on how people must behave. It is unfortunate that some of them are been attacked when doing these activities and we say it can’t be correct,” explained Ntshalintshali. She said the province has about 30 000 cases of GBV, in which Nkangala District Municipality accounts for 11000 of the cases with most of them reported at eMalahleni.