Sanco marches to raise some demands

Members of the South African National Civic Organisation (SANCO) took to the streets to hand over a memorandum at the Witbank Magistrate Court.

Sanco stated that they were pledging their commitment to a unified, democratic, non-sexist, non-racist, non-exploitative South Africa based on the freedoms, rights and values that are enshrined in the Bill of Rights of the Constitution of the RSA.

SANCO as a civic movement said they were greatly concerned with the manner in which socio-economic issues affecting eMalahleni communities outside the boarders of political affiliation and all other sundry constraints are being handled. They said eMalahleni has in the recent times been riddled with cases of human trafficking, abduction of people living with albinism, excessive drug usage and prevalence and many more social ills that are tearing at the very fabric of the society.

“In this march which is summarily expressed as “Justice for All”, our main aim is to communicate the level of disgruntlement and frustration we have regarding the slow response or lack thereof in the justice system to the context of lawlessness that is happening in eMalahleni. It is rather disappointing and cannot be correct that many major criminal cases are halted due to the death of key witnesses or loss of dockets containing critical information relating to the cases at hand. Our people are murdered but suspects often get away by being granted minimum bail and cases end up unresolved while crimes of a lesser nature such as shoplifting are prioritized while there is a prevalence of abductions, human trafficking and murder.”

Sanco members marching from Lynnville Park to the Witbank Magistrate Court to hand over a memorandum.

“SANCO believes commitment from all socio-economic governance structures is imperative for the attainment of our aims and objectives which can only be achieved in a united country with strong governance, an effective civic movement and a vibrant civic society. SANCO endeavours to promote nation building, truth and reconciliation, socio-economic and political development, reconstruction, transformation, peace and prosperity.”

SANCO therefore, commits itself to the attainment of the following goals:

*Building of a united community and a united South Africa.
*Promotion of socio-economic and political justice for all.
*Attainment of social security and comfort for all
*Contribution to the promotion and protection of the freedoms, rights and values enshrined in the constitution of the RSA
*Support and promotion of the struggle for the rights of children and people with special needs

“It also cannot be by coincidence that people can go missing for months and years without any urgent call for intervention from the SAPS. As the community mobilized under the banner of SANCO we want to express our concerns as we cannot afford to be bystanders while communities continue to rapidly lose faith in the justice system and its inconsistencies when it comes to dealing with crime,” added the statement.

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Sanco also said they were concerned about rape and gender based violence and killings. The cases of male spouses murdering their partners over relationship conflicts keep on increasing and the more the justice systems seems to drag its feet in resolving these cases.

They also said that noting that the high court is rarely a court of first instance in criminal cases and that according to the Criminal Procedure amendment act a criminal case is first to be heard in the regional magistrates court. Instituting a criminal matter in the high court tends to be costly and not affordable for most of our population. But appreciating the size of Emalahleni and given the fact that most of the cases causing national havoc and attention stem from this city we believe it would be of best convenience for the Department of Justice to consider, actually not only consider but also implement the call to have a high court built in eMalahleni.

Mr Paul Mthimunye representing the justice department receiving the memorandum from Cllr Connie Nkalitshana representing Sanco while the other officials look on.

Another concern raised by Sanco was the killing of people living with albinism. They say this is a practice that has been ongoing for quite a number of years in this city and they appreciate that now it’s exposed on national television for everyone to see and condemn. They were also concerned about cases of child abuse. They say as a society we are failing to provide a safe and healthy environment for children for them to thrive and to experience holistic development, instead children are exposed to the most heinous crimes and become the victims of such crimes. “We need safe havens for children as well as recreational facilities suitable for children. We require a conducive environment within the justice system to handle victims of abuse and to implement appropriate rehabilitative measures to ensure that children are able to psychologically overcome the trauma and can be children again,” added the statement.

“Women and children are abducted from their families and kept against their will by criminals for different criminal reasons. Some are kept in some of the streets in downtown eMalahleni against their will. This is common knowledge within the community but the battle against such crimes seems endless and unwinnable. We need more to be done to curb this scourge. We need whistle-blowing hotlines and more vigilant community policing structures. We need more education to be undertaken at school around this subject and all the warning signs shared with the community. The law needs to be more stringent towards the human trafficking cartels around our city,” ended the statement.

Sanco also added their voice about the issue of traditional healer’s governance structures; they believe that a further engagement needs to be undertaken with all the traditional healers around the city. The municipality through its by-laws needs to look into how best the relationship can be established and a framework developed in consultation with the traditional healers and the police and health sector in order to share critical information and expose those that operate under the umbrella of traditional healing while committing crimes including abduction and murder.

Sanco therefore demands the denying of bail for suspects arrested for murder, kidnapping, human trafficking, women abuse and possession of drugs.