More than 6 rape cases reported in Fezile Dabi during Women’s Month

The executive mayor of Fezile Dabi District Municipality, Ms Oumix Oliphant recently hosted the intergenerational dialogue at Phehellang Secondary School in Parys as part of the closing of the 2017 Women’s month celebrations.
The aim of the dialogue was to share information and ideas on how to deal with the challenges that women are confronted with on a daily basis. Among the important stakeholders who shared information with more than 350 women, was the National Prosecuting Authority, the departments of Education, Health and  others.
Danny Sekese from the Department of Health encouraged women to take control of their health by empowering themselves with information. Sekese said one of the reasons for the long  queues at our clinics and hospitals is caused by the lack of information in the community. He told women that alcohol was the main contributing factor to the collapse of good behaviour, and not practising safe sex among the youth.
He encouraged young women to always check their HIV status regularly in order to get the necessary treatment and support.
Sana Thole from the National Prosecuting Authority  warned women against opening cases of abuse or rape, only to withdraw them later because of family pressure. She said the cases of rape in Fezile Dabi District Municipality are alarming and they don’t respect age, as can be seen in cases that involve even women as old as 97 who have been raped by young people. She said that in August alone, more than six rape cases were reported including one that led to a death in Sasolburg.
The executive mayor expressed shock and disappointment at the extent of serious rape cases in this district. She said it was very important that the district should embark on multi-stakeholder moral regeneration programmes to provide more information and education to the youth in order to make them aware of the damage that this was causing to the community.
She encouraged civil society and churches to play their part in assisting the community against these social ills. Oliphant added that the fight against HIV/Aids can only be fought if the community join hands.
The Municipality will host these kind of dialogues on an annual basis with the intention of sharing information with the broader community.