Police minister Bheki Cele has criticised officers in Tshwane for apparently waiting for a video of an alleged abused woman to go viral on social media before arresting her alleged abuser.
In the video, a Pretoria woman claimed police had not helped her when she reported a domestic violence incident, saying that her alleged abuser was instead released.
Addressing SA Police Service (SAPS) at a police parade in Mpumalanga for the safer festive season inspection tour, Cele said the alleged perpetrator was arrested but criticised how the matter had to go viral on social media before any action was taken.
“The criminal was arrested. The problem is why it had to wait for it [the video] to trend on social media for him to be arrested,” said Cele. He also urged SAPS to treat gender-based violence (GBV) cases with urgency and not treat women “like pets” under the guise of “protecting them”.
“Allow women to be in space of growing and flying high. Men should never think they own women, they are human beings and are capable of doing things.
“This mentality of saying you need to protect women ... maybe they don’t need to be protected but need to be allowed to use their capabilities. With this mentality of saying you need to protect them, you begin to think that they are pets,” said Cele.
Bheki Cele criticises Tshwane cops for waiting for video to trend before arresting an alleged abuser
Image: Freddy Mavunda
Police minister Bheki Cele has criticised officers in Tshwane for apparently waiting for a video of an alleged abused woman to go viral on social media before arresting her alleged abuser.
In the video, a Pretoria woman claimed police had not helped her when she reported a domestic violence incident, saying that her alleged abuser was instead released.
Addressing SA Police Service (SAPS) at a police parade in Mpumalanga for the safer festive season inspection tour, Cele said the alleged perpetrator was arrested but criticised how the matter had to go viral on social media before any action was taken.
“The criminal was arrested. The problem is why it had to wait for it [the video] to trend on social media for him to be arrested,” said Cele. He also urged SAPS to treat gender-based violence (GBV) cases with urgency and not treat women “like pets” under the guise of “protecting them”.
“Allow women to be in space of growing and flying high. Men should never think they own women, they are human beings and are capable of doing things.
“This mentality of saying you need to protect women ... maybe they don’t need to be protected but need to be allowed to use their capabilities. With this mentality of saying you need to protect them, you begin to think that they are pets,” said Cele.
GBV suspect released on warning to appear in court for 2018 offence
TimesLIVE reported the man accused of assaulting the woman will appear in the Pretoria magistrate’s court on Wednesday in connection with another case.
“The suspect has been arrested for the case of assault GBH that was opened in Pretoria West in 2018. This is one of the cases that the complainant mentioned on the video clip,” said Brig Brenda Muridili, Gauteng police spokesperson.
Muridili said the detective in Mamelodi who was allocated the case charged the 46-year-old suspect with assault and then released him on a warning to appear in court on December 30.
“The [Mamelodi] station commander has instituted an internal disciplinary investigation into the detective member who released the suspect on warning and failed to liaise with the complainant,” she said.
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