Issued by African National Congress - Parliament
12 March 2003
Madam speaker, honourable members, I rise on behalf of the majority party, the ANC, to add our voice to the clarion call against violence on the most vulnerable in our midst, namely, our children. And in doing so, I wish to echo the voice of our President, who, in launching the 16 day campaign against violence on women and children towards the end of last year, had the following to say:
"Our country is involved in the important 16 Days of Activism on Violence against Women and Children. The country's response to this critical issue has been most commendable. We take this opportunity to thank everybody who has taken this campaign seriously, including the mass media. The 16-day period will end on December 10, International Human Rights Day. The point however is that, having mounted the continuing offensive for the protection of the lives, safety and security, dignity and welfare of the women and children of our country, we should not terminate our work on these matters when the 16-day period ends. We will have to continue beyond this date to ensure that we bring down the levels of violence against women and children to lower levels than those that obtain today. A critical element of this is sustaining the public consciousness in all our communities and localities about the challenge we continue to face."
He then continued as follows:
"This will require that we get a better understanding of the incidence of this crime in our country. In our continuing work, we should look for concrete results. One concrete result must be a radical reduction of the numbers of victims of this crime. Another must be a major upward movement with regard to the overall climate of safety and security as it relates to women and children in particular, and all our people in general. These results must come about in part because the wrongdoers begin to understand that they will not get away with their crimes.
This is particularly important because much of the abuse to which the majority of our people are firmly opposed occurs behind the closed doors of family homes. Accordingly, we have to ensure that the united voice of our people against violence against women and children penetrates into and is heard in the very private homes within which the women and children of our country are abused."
I must at this point, state that the calling for this debate today by the DP, following recent publication of its so-called report on conditions and activities of child protection units, with the theme: " South Africa's Betrayed Children, Government's Broken Promises", is hardly surprising, considering the fact that the 2004 elections are just around the corner.
In the aforesaid report, the DP, has attempted to mount a scathing attack on government, to try and convince the electorate that this is a government that does not care, by saying the following amongst others:
"Of critical importance, we want to draw the attention of the public to the lack of the will power and the impotence of the ANC government in ensuring that the police are capable of helping child victims. Government efforts have amounted to a little more than ineffectual noisy gongs and clanging bells."
Well, one need not say much in reply to these vengeful and vindictive utterances characteristic of the DP's desperate political style, safe to say that they are, to use the proverbial words of Shakespeare's Macbeth, "full of sound and fury signifying nothing".
As the Minister of Safety and Security has already responded to these accusations as they pertain to the police, let me confine myself to the role of the justice system and the efforts of government towards enhancing the capacity of that system to deal with this challenge more effectively.
A key initiative by both the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development and the National Prosecuting Authority to address the area, especially, of sexual offences against women and children, has been the launching and rolling out of specialized sexual offences courts.
The intricate nature of sexual offences against women and children, particularly because of their initimate nature, require magistrates and prosecutors to be especially sensitive to the needs of survivors of these crimes. Moreover the scientific and complex nature of the evidence needed to secure convictions, requires all role-players to have specialized skills and expertise, hence the establishment of these courts.
Among the more essential requirements of these courts are: a minimum of two dedicated and experienced prosecutors per court, dedicated and experienced magistrates, victim assistance services, case managers, a pool of intermediaries and counselling services, special court rooms, fully equipped with essential facilities such as: close circuit television sets, waiting rooms for children and adults away from the suspects, private consultation areas and anatomical dolls to enable young children to testify in a manner appropriate to their age.
29 of these courts have already been established and are currently functioning throughout the country and eleven more are due to be launched in April this year. According to the statistics supplied by the National Prosecuting Authority for the period January to December 2002, derived from 10 of these courts, which are located in Parrow, Cape town and Wynburg, in the Western Cape; Pretoria and Protea in Gauteng; Bloemfontein and Welkom in the Free State, Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape, and Thohoyandou in the Northern Province, there were 1711 cases finalized with full verdicts, of which 1095 were convictions and the remaining 616, acquittals. In addition, the total number of cases withdrawn was 935, far less than the 1711 that were finalized.
Now, this is clear evidence that the system is working and that a clear message, is being sent to perpetrators of crimes against women and children that the vigilant eyes of the law are upon them and that they will not be allowed to continue with their evil ways unchecked.
Allow me, however, to reiterate the President's call for communities to fold up their sleeves and participate in this collective effort to fight this scourge. Government alone cannot overcome the challenge. We all come from our respective families and communities from which these challenges arise and are all, therefore, equally responsible and accountable towards ensuring that as a people and nation we isolate those amongst us who have become the rotten potatoes and resuscitate our family and social values. Children play a pivotal role in perpetuating human existence. Without them humanity will simply cease to exist. They carry the values, traditions and human practices that are passed on from one generation to the other. It is therefore a matter of survival for the entire human race that we all play a role towards ensuring that our families and communities become safe havens that provide a caring, nurturing and secure environment for our little ones.
I Thank you.