South Africa will not defeat gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF) unless families speak openly with their children and report abuse without fear, Justice and Constitutional Development Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi has warned.
Kubayi said incidents of sexual violence should never be concealed or reduced to "private or ideological debates".
“When something like this happens, we don’t sit on it and hide it, and it must not become a conversation among [a select few] . There cannot be a debate when there is rape... It is a crime,” Kubayi said.
She emphasised that parents have a legal and moral obligation to report cases of child sexual abuse, including teenage pregnancies involving minors.
“There is no 11-year-old who can give consent to sex. The age of consent is clear in the law. When a child becomes pregnant, it is statutory rape.
“As a parent, you must stand up. There are two places you must go to -- either take the child to a doctor or go to a police station. As teachers and community members, you have the same responsibility,” the Minister said.
Kubayi was addressing residents during a Community Outreach Imbizo and Pre-State of the Nation Address (SONA) community activation at the Dulcie September Civic Hall in Athlone, Western Cape.
She said many cases of teenage pregnancy were concealed after families reached financial settlements with perpetrators.
“You may [spend] that R50 000 and it will be finished, but you have a child who is destroyed for life. Once you do that, the perpetrator moves from this child to another. That is how we end up with serial rapists in our communities,” she said.
Kubayi said adults who view children as sexual partners require serious intervention.
“Anyone who sees an 11-year-old or a 10-year-old as a woman is mentally sick and needs help. That is why such people must be reported to the police to arrest them. Social workers can deal with psychiatric issues while they are in prison," the Minister said.
She stressed that perpetrators must be held accountable, regardless of their role in the household.
“We cannot keep such people in our society. Even if he is a breadwinner; if he has raped a child, it is not worth the price. We cannot talk about the future of South Africa while we are destroying our children,” Kubayi said.
The Minister warned that abuse was affecting both girls and boys.
“Today, we are seeing mothers raping boys, men molesting boys. We are breeding a sick society. We need you as civil society, activists in our communities, to help us fight this pandemic that we are seeing in our communities,” the Minister said.
She said government has amended legislation and will continue to arrest perpetrators and ensure convictions. Further legal reforms, the Minister said, are under consideration to allow the publication of convicted offenders’ names.
“We cannot continue protecting perpetrators at the expense of victims,” she said. - SAnews.gov.za
