Photo: Marinette Potgieter
KABOKWENI – “We do our jobs and get raped. The police only fold their arms and terrorise the victims even more. But when you get sick, you expect us to nurse you back to health.”
This was the general message at a march from Themba Hospital to KaBokweni on Friday in protest against the rape of a nurse on February 7. The woman was walking to work from home that evening when four men cornered her and allegedly raped her mere metres away from the KaBokweni Police Station.
To fuel the fire it is alleged that the police apparently made no effort to apprehend the three perpetrators. According to SAPS spokesman Brig Selvy Mohlala, the police made an arrest a few days after the woman reported the case. Pending an ongoing investigation they have not yet arrested the other two.
According to unnamed protesters, the community decided to take matters into their own hands and assaulted the two suspects to such an extent that one of them died on the scene.
“This lack of service is unacceptable,” said the voice over the microphone at the march. “As nurses, we heal and treat the injured. As policemen, you are supposed to keep all of us safe and you have failed. Now someone is dead because you have failed us.”
About 200 protesters gathered in scorching heat in KaBokweni to let the police know how upset they were at their alleged poor service delivery.
KaBokweni’s station commander Col Dawie Pieterse, acknowledged receipt of the memorandum and promised to respond accordingly in due time.
The Department of Health has also extended a helping hand to the victim and relayed that it is “saddened” by the whole ordeal. However, provincial spokesman Dumisani Malamule said the department believes the police had done all they could to ensure justice was served.
“The Department has met with the victim to give her full support. Some of the nursing staff at the hospital also embarked on a march to the police station where a memorandum was delivered. Amongst the issues on the memorandum was to request the police to increase visibility in the Kabokweni area. The hospital also requested the police to prioritise the case against the alleged criminals.
“The Department would also like to commended the police for their speedily apprehension of the alleged criminals. The Department has confidence that the police and the justice system will ensure that the alleged criminals’ face the full might of the law. We do not condone the actions by the criminals and we believe that a lot will be done by the SAPS to ensure that such incidents do not happen again.”
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