Byline: Kelebogile Masemola
29 June 2022
The Gauteng Community Safety Head of Department (HoD), Ms Nontsikelelo Sisulu, on Monday, 27 June 2022, hosted a dialogue with over 100 young people on gender-based violence and femicide at Diepsloot Youth Centre in the Central corridor in Gauteng.
Diepsloot policing precinct contributes significantly to the high levels of crimes perpetrated against women and children with forty six (46) cases of sexual offences and nineteen (19) murder cases reported during the 4th quarter January – March 2022.
The programme commenced with MEC Faith Mazibuko leading an outreach program on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide in Diepsloot.
The MEC was joined by a delegation from Mpumalanga Provincial Government who benchmarked on the Gender-Based Violence Brigades programme which has been regarded as one of the successful programmes initiated by the Gauteng Provincial Government.
“The reason why we have chosen women as GBV Brigades is to avoid secondary victimisation as most victims are women.
We do not dispute the fact that men are also abused at times.
The GBVF statistics in Gauteng have decreased, although we are still in the top 30 GBV hotspots, we are no longer leading.
I hope what you have learned today you will also engage in your province together with your MEC, do not just engage but also create a hype towards the program to bring more awareness into the program,” said MEC Mazibuko.
The HoD encouraged young people to work closely with Gender-Based Violence Brigades to raise awareness and engage on community specific interventions.
“Gender-Based Violence brigades will go to every house daily in pairs, they will be able to take down, inform and raise awareness for each house so that people know and learn that domestic violence is not just between males and females but also affects the LGBTQI community as well,” said Sisulu.
The GBV Brigades program was developed as a strategic intervention to the growing number of GBVF cases and incidents in Gauteng.
“As Gauteng Department of Social Development, we are mandated to tackle Gender-Based Violence in our respective communities.
We also provide comprehensive services to victims and survivors of gender-based violence,” said Pearl Moabelo, Regional Director at Gauteng Department of Social Development.
Mpumalanga Provincial Government, Bouy Maluleke said young people must refrain from drugs and alcohol abuse.
“Young people should refrain from engaging in things that are harmful to their lives such as drugs and alcohol.
They must avoid peer pressure at all costs and build their lives wisely by following their vision,” said Maluleke.
The Gauteng government has deployed floor managers at police stations in the province as part of efforts to improve service delivery, and ensure that victims of GBV are attended to speedily and receive the quality service they deserve.
