22 January 2014
The South African Communist Party (SACP) in Brian Bunting District has learnt with disgust, of the horrifying and cruel incident where a 27-year old perpetrator has abducted, raped, and set alight a 9-year old child at Delft on Saturday, 18 January 2014.
The abduction to the vegetation near N2, brutal rape and an attempt to murder the 9-year old child is an indication of how brutal are the perpetuators of rape. The little girl was lucky enough to be able to arrive at home and report the incident, though the rapist had burnt her and is now undergoing treatment for severe burn wounds after the culprit poured fuel over her.
The fact that these gross injustices occur daily in the Western Cape Province with the provincial and local governments turning a blind eye is simply scandalous, a clear sign of unwillingness from a government led by the neo-liberal DA ("Democratic Alliance") to put an end to rapists treating the Cape Metro and Western Cape Province as their paradise.
We surely cannot say that we are free and that everyone enjoys the fruits of democracy in the Cape Metro while hundreds of children and black women continue to suffer the brutality of rape, assault and gender-based violence.
We applaud the bravery of the community watch members who caught the perpetrator on the same Saturday night. Had it not been for them then the heartless predator would still be out looking for the next victim, whom he could rob the joy of childhood. We also appreciate that the Delft community did not opt for vigilantism, but rather chose to respect the rule of law and handed over the perpetrator to the police.
As the SACP in Brian Bunting District, we find ourselves in a space where we have to repeat the truth, that the previously marginalized of our society will benefit nothing but pain from the so called open society as advocated through policies implemented by the neo-liberal DA.
We have long indicated that under the neo-liberal DA, safety strategies are more channelled towards affluent and white communities at the expense of the working class, particularly the poor. The people know that it is an imagination for any sober person to claim that the black women and their children, especially workers and the poor, have equal status in the Cape Metro. There is a number of children and women who continue to suffer in silence and not report cases, mainly because they continue to depend economically on some of the ruthless predators.
The position of women in the Cape Metro, blacks in particular, is not only the result of racial injustice and deep-seated patriarchy but also intermittently linked to patterns of economic exploitation in a so called equal-opportunity society under the DA administration.
Thus the social emancipation of children and women in Cape Metro particularly and Western Cape Province in general being under the DA administration will not come on a silver platter, but through our constant struggle and change of government through a vote for the African National Congress (ANC).
The SACP in Brian Bunting District is calling on the police to accelerate their investigation and gather admissible evidence to ensure that the perpetrators of rape and gender based violence rot in jail. In the same vein, we are calling on our Justice system not to fail the people, but to make sure that these perpetrators understand that their cowardice acts will not be tolerated in our country.
Released by SACP Brian Bunting District
Contact:
Benson Ngqentsu - District Secretary
Mobile: 0827966400
Baxolise Mali - Media Liason
Mobile: 0820659156