Tracking down rape suspects has been made a police priority, Deputy Minister of Safety and Security Susan Shabangu said on Wednesday.
”One of the issues we are going to make a priority is to ensure that where we have warrants of arrest for rape suspects, the police go down and hunt those individuals and bring them to book,” she told a crowd of about 300 women marchers at Parliament in Cape Town.
The Malibongwe March was organised — one day ahead of National Women’s Day — by the African National Congress Women’s League to highlight continued violence and abuse against women and children. Many of the women marchers wore black T-shirts with the words ”Enough is Enough”.
Shabangu told the crowd her ministry would set up a team to work together with women ”to make sure that perpetrators of violence against women and children don’t live with us in our communities”.
She said she did not believe such individuals were human beings.
”They are animals. We don’t need animals among ourselves.”
Earlier, Women’s League executive committee member Nosipho Ntwanambi called on Shabangu to do something to stop the murder of children, and to severely punish those responsible.
”Please do something … If people can’t behave like human beings, they must rot in jail,” she said.
A memorandum calling for, among other things, all those accused of murder and violence against women to be denied bail, and harsher sentences for those convicted of such crimes, was handed to Shabangu.
She responded by telling the crowd South Africa could no longer accept abuse of women and children.
”I assure you, the police, prosecutors and magistrates are prepared and ready to make sure these matters are attended to … they will leave no stone unturned,” she said.
The protest was an all-women event. As a male South African Press Association journalist covering it squeezed gently through the crowd to the front, one of those he disturbed was heard to mutter: ”What do the men bloody want in this?!”.
‘Appalling’
Meanwhile, the police’s closing of an investigation into the rape of a medical student at Chris Hani-Baragwanath Hospital was described as premature and inadequate on Wednesday.
”Police investigate cases where complainants are babies or unable to give information and those investigations proceed. One really can’t understand why they can’t proceed with an investigation,” said Carrie Shelver, training and public awareness manager at People Opposing Women Abuse (Powa).
By Wednesday afternoon, Gauteng police refused to answer further questions about the reported rape on hospital grounds on July 30.
”This office will not comment any further about the above incident unless there are developments in the case,” said Superintendent Lungelo Dlamini.
On Tuesday, police confirmed a media report that they had closed the investigation as they did not have enough information to continue.
The student laid charges and gave a statement to police last Thursday.
Dlamini said police had no witnesses or physical evidence and did not know where the scene of the crime was.
The Democratic Alliance also said the closing of the investigation was premature.
”It is appalling that the police give up so easily in this high profile case. I can understand why rape victims are so wary of pressing charges,” said the party’s Gauteng health spokesman, Jack Bloom.
Dlamini said the case could be re-opened if new information was provided.
The student was attacked in the hospital grounds on July 30 while on her way to the blood bank.
Two days after the attack, police appealed to her to come forward to assist with investigations.
The woman was said to still be too traumatised to talk and therefore give a statement. — Sapa