The infamous clash between Ian Cameron and Bheki Cele that went viral last week highlighted the names of GBV victims such as Siphokazi Booi from Mbekweni.
Cameron is Director of Community Safety at Action Society and currently lives in Paarl.
Action Society is a civil rights organisation that offers its services to victims of GBV and other cases.
In a passionate plea for proper policing at a community engagement session in Gugulethu he painted a bleak picture to the Minister of Police.
“When I visit Mbekweni and I get out of my car, a 3-year-old little boy is taking a poo next to the road because he doesn’t have a toilet.
“And you know what? Police don’t care if something happens to them there, because they don’t have the resources to help.”
At that moment Cameron highlighted Booi’s brutal murder; a 27-year-old woman allegedly beaten, murdered and dismembered by her estranged boyfriend, Sithobele “Rasta” Qebe, on 4 September.
In an interview on the Big Daddy Liberty Show last Thursday he again detailed her case: “…someone like Siphokazi Booi who was dismembered . . . had parts of her breasts, her arms and her legs cut off. She was then put in a trolley bin and set on fire in a horrific murder.”
The scene where her scorched remains were discovered in Drommedaris Street soon escalated into mob justice owing to the slow response from local police.
“The reason I’m using these examples is just to say we’ve been mandated by those victims’ families to assist and ensure that we get good convictions,” Cameron said, “because South Africa has a less than 5% conviction rate when it comes to sexual offences, for example.”
Booi’s family, too, rather entrusted Action Society to follow-up on her murder.
“The family believes the system failed Siphokazi,” said Cameron. “The suspect was out on bail after previous charges of assault before she was killed. He beat her mercilessly to a point where she had to be hospitalised. Yet he was set free despite such offences.”
He believes the reason criminals are released back onto the streets is that correctional centres are too full.
“It is either that or the rehabilitation process is not sufficient enough to change criminals’ behaviour.”
This time around, Qebe remains in custody and is set to make another appearance in the Paarl Magistrates’ Court on 12 December.
Said Cameron: “The reason her case stalled for so long is that the magistrate the case was assigned to is set to retire.
“She insisted the case be heard at such a time when it won’t be necessary to transfer Booi’s case to a new magistrate halfway through proceedings.”
He told Paarl Post his team is currently working on three GBV cases in Mbekweni.
Cameron calls on people who seek justice to contact Action Society by completing a form on its website www.actionsociety.co.za or via email on communitysafety@actionsociety.co.za
