Dying diggers of Namaqualand need saving
| by Ofentse Mokae, MPL – DA Northern Cape Provincial Spokesperson on Transport, Safety & Liaison |
| Date: 13 August 2020 |
| Release: Immediate |
| The Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Northern Cape is deeply concerned about the visible lack of resources at police stations that continue to hamper the ability of the South African Police Service (SAPS) to provide adequate support to victims of Gender-Based Violence (GBV).This comes after an oversight inspection to the Kuruman Police Station yesterday revealed that there is a critical lack of resources to meet urgent and emergency needs in the Family-Violence, Child-Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS) unit allocated to service nine police stations in the John Taolo Gaetsewe (JTG) area.Last year, the DA exposed the shortage of rape kits at police stations across the province. However, the battle to defeating the scourge of GBV remains far from over and unfortunately, not much seems to have been done in response to the DA having lifted the lid on systematic failures with regards to SAPS’s GBV response.There continues to be shortages of resources, ranging from inadequate staffing, insufficient vehicles and little to no office space (see pictures here, here and here) for the head of this FCS to adequately provide support to victims of GBV.As we continue to observe Women’s Month, we need to ask ourselves if this government is genuinely doing all they can to provide sufficient support to our police officers?Even though our police officers continue to try to fight crime against women and children, their passion and dedication on its own cannot surmount the logistical challenges that they face. Instead, this can only be addressed with the necessary political will to adequately equip police stations to be able to efficiently fight the scourge of these heinous crimes, and also treat victims of crime with dignity.The DA will, in the upcoming virtual portfolio committee meeting for safety, lobby for the implementation of the Northern Cape Crime Prevention Strategy, which in turn requires SAPS stations to be better equipped, capacitated and resourced.The DA will not tire in its endeavors to hold this government accountable and ask difficult questions that are critical towards ensuring that our police officials are able to wage war on GBV in all corners of our province. |
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