26 November 2002
Programme Director,
The Principal of Muzomuhle Primary School,
Teachers and pupils,
Councillors,
Ladies and Gentlemen:
Thank you for inviting me to address you today, as we join the international community in observing the 16 Days of No Violence Against Women and Children. I am very happy to speak at this school and amongst the teachers and pupils gathered here this morning.
It is particularly important for all of us who are here today, as well as the entire nation of South Africa, to pause and reflect at this cancer that is eating both our moral fibre and the real lives of our women and children. Clearly, the period of 16 Days is meant to bring to the attention of all of us the horrendous deeds that are happening in our communities and amongst our friends, relatives and colleagues so that together we can unite and defeat this monster.
I hope that this period will, indeed assist in mobilising all of us, as South Africans, to take up the fight to uproot the evil of violence directed especially at women and children as well as the elderly and the disabled.
Organisers of the campaign identified Diepsloot as one of several key focus areas around the country. Like other townships, towns and cities around the country and all over the world, the evil deeds of some amongst our communities has made Diepsloot to battle and to come to grips with the violence and abuse directed at vulnerable members of our communities.
As members of these communities, as leaders in various areas of life and indeed as ordinary citizens who are concerned primarily with improving our living conditions, we are faced with this challenge that has been imposed on us by animals masquerading as human beings. These are animals because, we will agree, that no right-thinking human being can engage in the horrific acts to which we are daily being exposed - the rape of children, women and the elderly and the mutilation and barbaric killings of many of our people.
I am confident that we all realise that to defeat this monster we need to unite, combine our resources and work together as government, civil society and the private sector. We need to create a powerful force that will give no space to those who commit these inhuman acts.
We need to bring a consciousness amongst our men and boys, indeed amongst all of us, that to abuse women, children, the elderly and the disabled does not only inflict injury to the victims, but through these deeds the perpetrators deprave and debase themselves such that they, themselves, will never lead normal lives.
As we square up to this evil, this year, this 5th national anniversary of the 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children international campaign, provides us with another opportunity to take stock of our progress in firmly dealing with violence and abuse. It also presents us with another chance to look at different strategies and measures to involve all South Africans, varying these strategies so as to be more effective in dealing with the challenges facing each vulnerable group. For the past years, individuals, organisations and governments around the world have come together on an annual basis to observe the 16 Days of Activism in order to raise awareness of all forms of violence and abuse directed at women and children in our various communities. We need to ask ourselves the question as to whether there has been any progress, and if not what are the reasons for failure.
I am told that activists have over the years used the 16-day period to create a solidarity movement that raises awareness around gender-based violence as a human rights abuse, and campaign to ensure better protection for survivors of violence and for its total elimination.
Again, we must look closely as to whether we have managed to align our work with other processes undertaken by government and other structures of civil society. We need to make an introspection so that we avoid duplication. We all agree that we need to integrate our programmes, government, civil society and private sector, and combine resources so that we make the maximum impact in our fight against the criminals who perpetrate these acts.
Undoubtedly, today as we look back on four years of innovative, worldwide organisation in this annual campaign, we are inspired by the strength and commitment of this movement that works tirelessly to eliminate gender-based violence in the home, school and everywhere else where this problem manifests itself in various forms.
It is encouraging that over the years since the inception of the 16 Days Campaign, it has, in South Africa, grown to include all government departments, NGOs, community-based organisations, schools and faith-based organisations throughout the country, all working together to drum up support for an end to gender-based violence.
Having agreed to work together, what are the outcomes? We need to check whether all of us are contributing, as we should, so that our campaigns, on this important matter, don't become merely noisy gongs or clanging bells.
In this regard, I support the strategies employed by groups during the campaign, which vary and are reflective of current events such as violence and abuse in our schools.
Accordingly, I join all the leaders of our communities, and various formations to strengthen and encourage activists to work harder to use this 16-day period to raise awareness in schools, tertiary institutions or wherever young people can be found. We have to do this because we have a duty to protect our children and youth against all forms of abuse and sexual violence and ensure that they are also informed and educated about their rights and obligations on these matters.
Further, we should engage in our work in a manner that ensures that the victims or survivors of abuse and violence do not, themselves, become trapped in the cycle of violence by becoming abusers and perpetrators of violence when they become adults.
As young people, especially young men and boys of this country, I would like to urge you to become part of the already existing structures throughout our communities, organisations and government departments. You need to become activists campaigning against the scourge of rape and domestic violence.
In addressing violence against women and children, the involvement of men, young men and boys is imperative. Men have to take responsibility for shaping their own development programmes but they need to work in partnership with women and women's groups, particularly on issues relating to the eradication of violence against women and children. But above all, we should fight all forms of abuse and violence against all sectors of our society. We must protect the elderly, the disabled, women and children. Our government is committed to the eradication of violence against all vulnerable groups, but this can only be realised if we all become activists in this important struggle against the evil people who are responsible for this.
In the past, all of us sacrificed in order to have the democracy that we have today. However, the fruits of democracy should not be sacrificed and tainted by people who are making the lives of those who are defenceless and powerless, unbearable.
It is ironic that most acts of violence and abuse against women, children, the elderly and disabled are committed in the sanctity of the home, work and school. These are places that should be considered safe for all of us.
However, what makes it possible for the perpetrators of these acts of violence, rape and abuse to continue is the culture of shame and silence around the same rape, abuse and violence, especially when it is committed by a family member or someone we trust.
If your teacher, your father, your brother or anyone close to you violates you sexually, abuses you through violence and other means, you must break the silence and expose them. Keeping quiet about violence and abuse gives the perpetrator another chance to hurt another child, another elderly person, another disabled person and another woman. We must all blow the whistle on rape and other forms of abuse.
We need young men and women with courage, integrity and initiative who will see this challenge as an opportunity to help shape South Africa and our collective future by assisting to restore the moral fibre, respect and dignity of our society and ensure that these become permanent attributes of the people of this country.
In order to sustain a democratic society which respects the rights of all, we need, amongst others, to strengthen our public education programmes about the noble prescriptions of our Constitution, about the rights of the people of this country, about their obligations as well as the manner in which different social forces can collaborate to achieve these goals that are articulated in our Constitution.
We should ensure that this public education programme is accessible to all and is done in a manner that will help us to reach the widest number of people in this country. This means we must continuously work hard at instilling a deep-seated set of human rights values that must serve as a foundation for responsible citizenship.
To achieve this requires the participation of all stakeholders, the youth, women, teachers, parents and government. That is why in the spirit of Letsema we appeal to all South Africans to lend a hand in fighting the violence against women, children, the elderly and the disabled.
Today, as we green this school, we should ensure that we leave an enduring legacy that communities around the school will remember for many years. Our campaign to end violence against women and children, as indeed against the elderly and people with disabilities or any other person in our country, should be sustainable and gain more momentum beyond the 16 Days of Activism.
I would also like to appeal to everybody working within our criminal justice system to continue to improve their efficiency and effectiveness so that we can respond to complaints, cases and reports more expeditiously. I am told that there is a tendency amongst some of our police officers to turn back complainants of abuse if they have not yet been physically harmed. In some instances, this makes the criminals to be more audacious and proceed to commit more crimes.
I would urge that people should report such cases to the MECs and the Minister of Safety and Security and I can assure you that these will be given the necessary attention.
When we gather again next year, we should do so to report on the progress that we shall have achieved through our hard work.
We must be able to demonstrate - as we have done in the past - that when the people of this country decide to address something, it does not matter how vicious or enormous the challenge is - our collective strength, determination and resilience will see us through.
We must eradicate this problem and I know that we will wipe it from our society, because we did not defeat the monster of apartheid to give space for another ogre of criminals, rapists and abusers. We must refuse them refuge in our homes and communities. No matter how close they are to us, let us remember that by giving shelter to them, we are also collaborating in their evil deeds of killing our people, our society and our future. Together we must take the fight to these tyrants and ensure that they have no place to hide.
I thank you!