Evander Court strengthens ties with traditional leaders on Heritage Day
According to court intermediary Thembi Msibi, the initiative aimed to educate the community on how traditional courts and formal courts can work together in the interests of justice.
The Evander Court and its stakeholders, including Thuthuzela, Men’s Voice, eMbalenhle SAPS, and the Secunda Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit (FCS), used the Heritage Day celebration held at the eMbalenhle Sasol Club on September 24 as an opportunity to strengthen their working relationship with traditional courts led by traditional leaders.
According to court intermediary Thembi Msibi, the initiative aimed to educate the community on how traditional courts and formal courts can work together in the interests of justice.
“In commemorating Heritage Day and promoting peace and justice, we saw the need to engage our community and mend relations with traditional leaders. Many communities rely on traditional courts for mediation in disputes, but this sometimes conflicts with the law, especially in sexual offence cases such as rape. In traditional courts, suspects are often fined only, which is unfair to victims,” said Msibi.
She said all parties agreed that while traditional courts may impose fines, sexual offences must be reported to the police so that suspects can be brought to justice.
Msibi further highlighted the importance of protecting children within cultural practices, including traditional dance groups and virginity testing.
“Those who lead traditional dance groups must be vetted to ensure they are fit to work with children. We also encouraged that cases of sexual abuse revealed during virginity tests should immediately be reported to the police, so that victims can be referred to Thuthuzela for medical examination and suspects can be arrested. Working with traditional leaders, we can win the fight against gender-based violence and sexual abuse in our communities,” she said.
Sergeant Palesa Tsoaelo of the Secunda FCS urged the community not to hide sexual abuse cases within families or neighbourhoods. “We encourage the community to visit our offices with queries about sexual offence cases and to report abuse,” Tsoaelo said.
