Police Minister Bheki Cele has conceded that some police officers need to be trained to fully understand the seriousness of gender-based violence.
Cele, who intends to open a unit that will specifically deal with the crime, has sent out a strong warning to police officers that subjected victims of GBV to secondary trauma that they will face serious consequences.
Crime stats on rapes and domestic violence:
Discussion on the scourge of GBV in South Africa:
Cele was speaking at the Buccleuch interchange north of Johannesburg where Gauteng Premier David Makhura handed over 55 high-performance vehicles to the provincial police.
The vehicles will be used in the fight against priority crimes such as hijackings and robberies in Gauteng.
Cele says they are developing a programme in terms of GBV.
“We are developing a programme of this orientation in terms of GBV. We are developing the programme of having dedicated members of the SAPS because the problem is when somebody gets raped and goes to the police station, you find anybody that does not understand the seriousness of that matter. But if we train them and we keep them dedicated to this unit to look after those people, we will know that once they develop experience, empathy and sympathetic. But we will know that if somebody is treated badly at Honey Dew police station, we will know who was there in that particular time and space so that we act.”
Illegal sale of alcohol a problem
Makhura says the illegal sale of alcohol remains a major problem in the Gauteng province.
He says the province is considering implementing stricter regulations to deal with the illegal sale of alcohol as part of its fight against crime.
“This year we are going g to review all the regulations governing the sale of liquor because some of the outlets that are selling liquor in our communities are located just next to our schools, next to ECD centres. So we want to regulate, tighten the regulations of the sale of alcohols as part of the long and response to dealing with crime.”
High performance cars handed over to SAPS in Gauteng:
