Residents of Atteridgeville, west of Pretoria, say the escalating crime rate in the township is a ticking time bomb. They’ve put the blame squarely on the police and the justice system for not holding perpetrators to account.
Residents say victims are on their own as their township is riddled with crime. They’re accusing the police and the justice system of failing them, in particular with cases of gender-based violence.
Recently, 22-year-old Dineo Makubedu was allegedly stabbed to death by her partner. The suspect was arrested but later released.
“They took the statement and Dineo’s number, but ever since that day they never gave us feedback until the case proceeded to court on the 29th – that’s where we heard that there’s no evidence and could not link the suspect to it as well,” the deceased’ sister Machiko Makubedu explains.
In another case, a 10-year-old child was allegedly raped by her father. The matter was however thrown out of court.
“The Magistrate asked the child to come and point the person whom she said raped her. The child came and she pointed straight at the father. Then they took the child back to the box. After that, the magistrate said, because the child is not putting the case in a correct sequence ‘I won’t be able to let the so-called perpetrator come and testify’,” says a family member.
Another resident Prince Ndzimande says, “I’m just pleading if there’s anyone hearing or watching they should come and intervene and assist us in Attridgeville because we have a crisis. It’s a ticking time bomb. We tried on the 1st to shut down the police station. But we still making other efforts to escalate the issue so that we get the necessary response.”
Recently, programmes of Rivers of Living Waters church leader, Stephen Bafana Zondo were taken off air by a Soweto TV station. This, after a religious group said that continuing to play his church services was a travesty of justice.
“The fact that a supposedly man of god Stephen Bafana Zondo is undergoing a trial at North Gauteng High Court, facing rape charges is a disgrace to the religious fraternity. Furthermore, constant airing of his sermons on any platform not only is torture but traumatic to his victims,” decries BacktoGod foundation Pitso Ramotubedi.
Zondo has welcomed the station’s decision. He says as a church they understand and remain sensitive to the issues relating to Gender-Based Violence.
“What we need is to increase our leadership and accountability at all levels of the state right down to local community level. We also need to increase our prevention strategies and this means the whole of society working together to find mechanisms that’ll shift the attitudes and behaviours,” says Masimanyane Women’s Rights director, Dr Lesley Ann Foster.
The community of Atteridgeville is hoping to see the wheels of justice start to turn in their area. Police have so far been unavailable for comment.
