POLOKWANE – The Women Taking Back Safety Movement handed over a memorandum to the Department of Community Safety ahead of the court appearance of the four accused in the Deacon murder case.
The accused were arrested within 72 hours after the bodies of Lizette Deacon and her mother Hettie were found murdered along the R37.
Adele van der Linde, one of the organisers, says it is important to engage law enforcement to beef up their patrols and visibility in order to stop the murders. Listed among the demands made in the memorandum are that ‘NO BAIL be granted to all killers, farm murderers, rapists and women and child abusers and that the 72 hours priority activation and investigation in the murder of women and children will be applied in every instance, across the province, regardless of district, or municipality’.
The memorandum was accepted by the Chief Director for Police, Roland Stander, the Director for Social Crime Prevention, Mercy Mogotsi and the Deputy Director for Partnerships, Fundzani Dali.
In accepting the memorandum, Stander said the department will get back to the movement within 14 days. “We also believe that one murder is one too many, even if we do not have an outcome in 14 days we will engage the movement on our progress.”
The Community Policing Forum’s (CPF) Provincial Chairperson, Frans Kgasago, who accompanied the group, says the CPF in Limpopo is showing it’s support to women and urges all communities to take a stand in their own way.
“The CPF will not allow men to act above the law. We urge everyone including men to take a stand against gender-based violence (GBV). The only way progress can be made is if we all act together.”
