Bheki Cele: Policewomen should first be ‘mothers’ to GBV victims before they are officers

28 January 2022 - 14:00
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Police minister Bheki Cele says officers must have compassion for GBV victims. File picture.
Police minister Bheki Cele says officers must have compassion for GBV victims. File picture.
Image: GCIS

As SA continues to battle gender-based violence (GBV) and femicide, police minister Bheki Cele has called on female officers to treat victims as they would their own child.

Speaking during a Police Day event on Thursday, Cele said: “Treat them like you are their mother before you are an officer. Give them compassion.”

He slammed law enforcement officials who tell women to return home to sort it out with their abuser, warning this may lead to the victim’s death.

“They are coming to the police station because they don’t have anywhere to go. Don’t tell them to go back to negotiate. When a woman comes to report abuse, stop what you are doing and attend to her. Forget you are an officer. Say, ‘I am a mother talking to another mother or daughter’.”

Police Day is celebrated on January 27 to remember the sacrifices officers have made to provide safety for all who live in SA. It was approved by cabinet in 2005.

The issue of GBV remained in the headlines this week as the killer of 28-year-old Tshegofatso Pule gave testimony about her death in June 2020. She was heavily pregnant when her body was discovered hanging from a tree in the Durban Deep area of Roodepoort.

Muzikayise Malephane claimed he carried out the hit at the request of Ntuthuko Shoba, the alleged father of Pule’s unborn child.

A video of Eastern Cape ANC councillor Nanziwe Rulashe being assaulted and dragged out of her office by armed men also went viral on social media this week. 

The altercation, according to Rulashe, took place moments after a heated strategic planning meeting at the municipality offices. 

Co-operative governance and traditional affairs minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma and minister of women, youth and people with disabilities Maite Nkoana-Mashabane condemned the incident.

Dlamini-Zuma said it was inconsistent with the government’s values of building a non-sexist and democratic society. 


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