MPs accused the deputy minister of sidestepping urgent concerns as tensions flared in the National Assembly.
Parliament briefly descended into mild chaos on Wednesday afternoon when MPs accused Deputy Police Minister Polly Boshielo of not answering questions regarding statutory rape.
Boshielo was appearing before the National Assembly during a Peace and Security Cluster question-and-answer session.
EFF MP Muzi Khoza pressed the deputy minister about the protection of the girl child.
Citing Stats SA’s recent report that 2 103 cases of births by girls aged between 10 and 14 were reported in 2024, Khoza posed a question to Boshielo that she described as the “best” since she “left college”.
“Why has the Saps (South African Police Service) persistently failed our girl children over the years by refusing to open cases and investigate these schedule 5 offences that are widely reported by government institutions annually and in some cases quarterly,” Khoza asked.
“Why do our girl children not deserve protection and justice from the Saps?”
Deputy minister dances around statutory rape question
In response, Boshielo said she was once the MEC of Education and that the South African Schools Act stated “only relatives can open a case” when a child was violated.
She said the Basic Education Laws Amendment Act, however, has “changed to say anybody who witnesses what is going on in terms of statutory rape, you are allowed to approach any police station and open a case without even consulting the parents”.
“It’s just that sometimes we don’t want to see the whole thing and also look at the small things,” Boshielo said.
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She continued on about her recent speaking engagement at a teenage and statutory rape conference and said she was happy to see men attending.
However, none of what she said addressed Khoza’s questions.
EFF MPs call out Boshielo for no answer
As soon as her time was up, EFF MPs Hlengiwe Mkhaliphi and Leigh-Ann Mathys protested the deputy minister’s answer.
“She has not even touched a single question,” Mkhaliphi said.
“There are cases that we need to be updated about. This is very serious; we are talking about statutory rape.”
House chairperson Werner Horn dismissed Mkhaliphi’s objection as a “point of debate” and not a point of order.
Mathys said the government of national unity was failing South Africans by not being able to answer a simple question about statutory rape during 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence.
“It must be noted we are reducing a very serious matter to question time and whether the minister or deputy minister can respond to a question or not,” Mathys said.
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Horn eventually requested Mathys – who was attending virtually – to be muted.
Watch the Peace and Security Cluster question-and-answer session here:
Sexual Offence Courts expansion
Before the chaos, Boshielo had mentioned that the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development would open a Sexual Offences Court in Botshabelo, Free State, on Thursday.
This is one of 16 courts that the department aims to establish in the current financial year.
Boshielo said 19 such courts were established in the previous financial year.
“These are important as they help victims to be able to testify appropriately and have an environment that [provides] appropriate support or a victim-based and survivor-based approach,” the deputy minister said.
She added that 42 courts are being upgraded to provide a catalogue of survivor-centred support services.
Furthermore, Boshielo said the department introduced a multi-sectoral “hundred days challenge” to reduce the turnaround time to finalise domestic violence and sexual offence cases.
“This year again, we have given a directive for the service of protection orders by the clerks of court to issue within 24 hours,” she added.
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