Ward 75 is hotbed of GBVF in Alex
ALEXANDRA – Operation Pimpa uMakhelwana is being launched to implore residents to report cases of abuse in their neighbourhood.
Ward 75 in Alexandra has been singled out as the hotbed of gender-based violence in the township.
This was said by the chairperson of the Community Policing Forum (CPF) Chris Mabunda when he addressed the City of Johannesburg’s World Aids Day 2021 Men’s Dialogue meeting at the Children’s Library next to KwaMadala Hostel on November 11.
The meeting was attended by various community organisations in the township and ordinary residents in the ward, which included officials from the City, Gauteng Provincial Government, the SAPS in Alexandra and other stakeholders was themed ‘Working together to end inequalities, HIV/Aids, TB and Covid-19’.
The meeting also sought to encourage men to get tested for HIV/Aids, TB and Covid-19 and at the same time, urging them to vaccinate for Covid-19 and also adhere to treatment protocols for HIV/Aids and TB.
Mabunda, who is also a former councillor in the ward, said Ward 75 had been identified as a hotspot for gender-based violence and femicide and the CPF was working closely the SAPS in township to eradicate the scourge in the ward.
“We are going to introduce what we call Operation Pimpa uMakhelwana [report your neighbour]which implores residents to report cases of abuse in their neighbourhood. GBVF is very rife in the ward and we must educate each other about the scourge in the hope of eradicating it,” Mabunda said.
Colonel Vusumuzi Ngubane from the SAPS in the township said they were experiencing an increase in cases of murder and assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm, the majority of which he said were committed by men against their spouses or partners and girlfriends.
“We are also experiencing an upsurge in the number of gender-based violence cases being withdrawn. Out of anger, people come to the police station to open cases but when the dust settles down, they return to demand withdrawals of the cases,” Ngubane said.
Unfortunately, Ngubane said, the police have no powers to withdraw the cases as they were no longer in their jurisdiction but that of the court, and the victims are told to go to court to lodge the withdrawals. “Some of them withdraw in fear of threats made,” he added.
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