Olievenhoutbosch community unites against GBVF and murders in Tshwane
“It is not normal that many women and children younger than 22 years old have been murdered in the area – something should be done to stop these senseless killings.”
Community members and various non-profit and political organisations embarked on a night walk in Olievenhoutbosch, Centurion on Wednesday in commemoration of Women’s Day.
The walk started at 18:00 and ended at 20:00. They aimed to raise the awareness of gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF).
“Olievenhoutbosch community are terrified of walking on the street because criminals who are terrorising them,” member of the night walk organising team Lebogang Motau told Rekord.
Motau, who was also the Free World Initiative representative, said the crimes committed by community members seemed to be mostly GBVF-related.
“Children, women, LGBTQ communities and people living with HIV are fighting for their lives,” she said.
She said load-shedding made matters worse as the area was often dark in the evenings making it easier for criminals to commit crimes.
According to the marchers, they were in this mess because of the police who are allegedly failing to do their job effectively in the area.
“We want the police to come on board and listen to our demands. Should they fail to do so, we are going to stop the country.”
Another member of the night walk organising team, Zanele Mngadi said alleged bad behaviour by the police makes community members lose faith in their capability to fight crime.
“Most community members, if not all, believe the police are corrupt. They can only change this bad image through providing excellent or unquestionable services to the community,” she said.
She added that they needed police visibility in the area and to see perpetrators of crimes face the full might of the law.
“It is not normal that many women and children younger than 22 years old have been murdered in the area – something should be done to stop these senseless killings.”
She said it was disturbing that the police were suspected of colluding with criminals and allegedly taking bribes, which was a huge setback in the war to win against crime should it be true.
“We want non-corrupt officers if there are any, to prove their innocence by arresting corrupt ones.”
After embarking on a two-hour walk, which began and ended at the Olievenhoutbosch police station, the marchers handed over the letter of demands.
After accepting the memorandum on behalf of the station commander, Sergeant Dimakatso Msibi confirmed that most of the issues raised in the letter of demand were true.
Msibi said the behaviour of the police was sometimes uncalled for but not all the police officers were bad cops.
“It has to be addressed to prevent rot from one apple to spread to others. There are police officers who are dedicated and uphold the rule of the law but there are some who joined the SAPS for the wrong reasons. We are not the same.”
She said she was aware that it compromised the good image of the entire police at the station when one of them flout the law.
The marchers said this was the beginning of many similar marches to come in the area.
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