Methodist Church say no to women and children abuse

The march took place on August, 18.

The YMG and YWU are the youth guilds attached to the church. Amadodana AseWesile is the church’s men’s guild.

At the police station, the church was welcomed by Col Sthembiso Jukuda (head of detectives) and Col Rickson Shiburi (the station commander).

The YMG leader Andile Sinandile presented the memorandum which expressed the church’s concern about the abuse of children and women in the township.

“As the church, we would like to say enough is enough about the way in which women and children are treated. They are abused, beaten and raped. We are here to hand over the memorandum demanding that the police pay attention to these abuses on women and children and our little girls who are raped,” said Sinandile.

He pleaded with the police to prioritise the safety of the residents, and to go after the criminals who have become a menace to the residents.

Women from the church were happy with the support they received from the men on the day.

Lerato Pheeha, the YWC secretary, said it is an honour to hear men from their church supporting the cause of ending children and women abuse in the township.

“In addition to women being abused, beaten and raped, there is also an abuse of elderly people, disabled people and the killing of people living with albinism. There is also the killing of young women my age by their partners for unknown reasons. We would like to plead with the police to arrest the perpetrators of such crimes. Once arrested, the police must throw away the keys, so that the perpetrators will never see the light of day,” said Pheeha.

The church also wanted to know how the cases of abuse reported to them were treated by the police, and how many would be heard in court.

Another church member Thembisile Mavuso said the violence and the abuse inflicted on the victims traumatised and affected communities and the children.

“Most of the children on drugs such as nyaope are affected by the abuse they experience in their community. Some of them are saying they are tired of seeing abuse in their homes,” said Mavuso.

She added she wanted the police to assure them of their safety and that of their children because they are now afraid to leave their newborn children with their uncles because of the rampant incidents of rape in the community.

On receiving the memorandum, Col Jukuda promised that they take every case reported to the police seriously.

“What makes it difficult to put criminals behind bars in most cases is that some of the cases are of domestic nature. The suspects are related to victims, and so get away with abuse because relatives of victims will claim that they are sorting the matter themselves which had nothing to do with the police,” said Jukuda.

He added: “All in all there are 95 cases at the police station. Those case are about the abuse of women only, and 71 of them are in court and suspects have been arrested, and 24 of these cases are outstanding. The victims in those 24 cases claimed they have sorted out the matter because the suspects are their relatives.

“There are also 14 dockets where children are victims and that 12 of those cases are being processed in court. The suspects are in custody while only two are outstanding,” said Jukuda.

He said some of the cases are investigated by his team while others are handled by the Katlehong SAPS.

Shiburi said the Thokoza Police Station is committed to serving the community, and that they are taking every case seriously.

“I want to assure you that we fight corruption in this police station. There is no way you will hear people saying that they won’t be arrested by the police because they will pay a bribe,” said Shiburi.

Shiburi thanked the church members for their support and promised that with their support they will go a long way to solving crime.