Minister of Police Bheki Cele has called upon families of rape survivors and traditional leaders to report sexual crimes committed by family members to the police and not deal with them culturally.
He was speaking during a dialogue meeting held at Emperors Palace on November 6 with traditional leaders from Mpumalanga, Free State, Eastern Cape and other parts of the country.
The meeting was aimed at promoting dialogue between royal leadership and the ministry of police to partner in the fight against crime.
He encouraged traditional leaders to ensure families are discouraged from pressuring victims to withdraw cases of abuse opened against family relatives, uncles or brothers.
“Once an uncle abuses his nieces, he stops being an uncle but a criminal and must be treated as such. Traditional leadership should support the victims and make sure victims take up the matter with the police. When a crime has been reported to the police they should not tell victims to go and negotiate with the perpetrators, they should arrest,” Cele said.
He advised traditional leaders to make sure taverns and shebeens in their areas are regulated in order to curb the scourge of criminal activities.
He added that most criminals who are responsible for crime such as cash-in-transit heists and other business robberies in urban areas often go to rural areas in their attempt to avoid arrest.
“As traditional leaders it is important to mobilise community members to be whistle-blowers and not harbour criminals in their areas. Also, the rights and safety of farmers and farm workers and those living in rural communities must be upheld,” Cele said.
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Safety of leadership, stock theft and gender-based violence, police corruption, killing of albinos were some of the issues raised by various traditional leaders who spoke during the event.
King Sipho Mahlangu of the National House of Traditional Leaders said culture should protect people and not to destroy or hurt anyone.
“We have seen criminals abusing culture such as those people who still carry out criminal activities such as ukuthwala, a form of abduction that involves the kidnapping of a young woman by an older man to endorse marriage negotiations,” Mahlangu said.
He stated that traditional leaders have partnered with the NPA to be trained on the Domestic Violence Act and on how to handle such issues.
Crime strategies that were highlighted by the police during the meeting included the enforcement of visibility patrols on farms and small holdings.
Other interventions included the introduction of network operations on stock theft, rural safety forums and roadblocks and vehicle control points.
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