MBOMBELA – National Police Commissioner, Genl Riah Phiyega says women and children must walk the streets of the country without any fear of being raped, kidnapped or mutilated by criminals.
This was said during the the opening of the first-ever Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Investigations (FCS) Conference held at the Ingwenyama Conference and Sport Resort attended by 176 units from police stations countrywide.
The conference, as a contribution to Women’s Month, commenced on Monday and ends today.
The former minister of police, Nathi Mthethwa during a budget speech on
May 6, 2010 announced that the FCS units be re-established. In order to give impetus to Mthethwa’s announcement in parliament, the SAPS did just that on June 1, 2010.
They now have 176 units countrywide which are aligned to cluster model. Their total strength is 2 500 members including forensic social workers and public service act personnel.
Phiyega emphasised that crime against women was becoming a huge concern. “The timing for this conference is perfect, and marks the beginning of a new journey.
We will create an enabling environment that will allow you to be the best you can be and will do everything possible to ensure that we do away with the scourge of crime against women and children.
“We want females to walk the streets without fear of being raped,” said Phiyega.
Members of the unit were urged to attain zero tolerance when it came to crimes affecting women, children and the disabled.
Speakers came from different departments including the department of health’s medical examination of sexual abuse, the National Prosecuting Authority, the department of justice and others.
Topics discussed included criminal record and crime- scene management, harmful religious practices, victim identification and cellphone investigations.
Since the formation of the FCS units in 2010, this conference was the first of its kind to address operational issues affecting the units and celebrating their successes.
“We have to have this conference every year, to motivate each individual and remind them of their duties to reduce the amount of horrendous crimes,” Phiyega said.
“There is way too much crime against women. We need a much stronger strategy and we need to commit, lead and work together to fight this, it is about time,” she concluded.
