Gone are the days when people could go to the police station and open a case against their partners, only to withdraw it the next day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOnce you open the case, there is no turning back. If a victim wants to withdraw a case, the officers take a withdrawal statement and attach it to the docket and take it to court. The victim will explain to the magistrate in court why she or he wants to withdraw it. The reason for that is to avoid the disappearance of dockets in police stations,\u201d explained Lingelethu West Police Station spokesperson Sgt Xoliswa Nyalambisa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
She was commenting during a workshop held at Eyethu Multi-purpose Centre, at F Section, Khayelitsha on Saturday 27 May. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The workshop, designed to equip the community with conflict and violence resolutions, was organised by the Southern African Development Reconstruction Agency (SADRA) in conjunction with the police and the Lingelethu Community Policing Forum (CPF). SADRA works closely with the communities to train residents on ways to resolve conflict and violence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
SADRA\u2019s director Oscar Siwali said the plan was to listen to the people\u2019s challenges and to try to come up with solutions. He said they worked with different community stakeholders to unearth social ills in society. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Siwali mentioned Sexual Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) as one of the biggest challenges facing communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe discovered that in most cases alcohol has an impact on the SGBV. Sometimes it is caused by the lack of communication or misunderstanding between the partners. We discovered that, in most cases, men are always the perpetrators,\u201d he said, adding that the majority of men suppressed their emotions. This often leads to uncontrolled anger, he added. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Participants were grouped into two groups of women and a group of men to ensure they came with their own solutions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Siwali stressed that they were mainly targeting the SGBV hotspots in different communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been to Gugulethu and Nyanga. Today we are here (Khayelitsha). The following weekend we are going to Mfuleni and in that week to Khayamandi. These are some of the hotspot areas in the metro that we plan to visit,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Siwali added that volunteers would be trained in conflict and violence resolution. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lingelethu CPF chair Lunga Guza described the workshop as educational. He said more of these workshops in communities were needed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMost cases of SGBV in this precinct come from Ilitha Park,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe problem, in these cases, is that the majority drink indoors. And once they get drunk they fight each other. There is also a high number of hijacking and domestic violence.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Guza also complained about the lack of police visibility in the community, which he urged to work closely with the neighbourhood watch and police to fight crime. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, a stern message came from Nyalambisa. She praised Sadra for organising such an initiative, creating a platform for the community to open up. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPeople are speaking out about their challenges and that gives us, as officers, the idea of what is happening in families,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe encourage people to come and report any kind of case to the police station.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, she warned that withdrawal of cases would no longer apply and the station\u2019s GBV Desk would work with victims before opening cases to seek alternatives. She stated that on every shift two officers who specialise in dealing with SGBV victims would always be available. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Responding to a question on police visibility, Nyalambisa stated members worked tirelessly to sort out any policing matters. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAs a station we have limited staff members and resources,\u201d she pointed out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBut we try our level-best to ensure the officers are visible. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOur vans have an Automatic Vehicle Locator (AVL) system monitoring every police van when it goes outside of its boundary. This system is like a tracker. It tells you where the van is. That shows how serious we are in ensuring police vehicles are always where they are needed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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