The Limpopo case in which a man arrested for threatening to shoot his girlfriend was released within hours and went on to murder her is a clear indication police are failing to deal with gender-based violence (GBV).
Experts contacted for comment on the matter agree the horrific incident demonstrates how women are let down. Police are not dealing with domestic violence as a serious priority and this “opens up every reason for hopelessness in the system”.
“There are so many things to question. Where does faith lie among so much negligence and failure that resulted in a rampant maniac being let loose to kill the person who came to ask for help?” said Lesley Ann van Selm, founder and MD of Khulisa Social Solutions.
The murder, experts agree, raises questions about the granting of police bail to alleged GBV offenders and why a firearm was not automatically confiscated after being used to threaten a woman.
The murder happened in Ga-Kgole Village on Sunday morning, just a few hours after 40-year-old Mmapula Maria Letsoalo opened a case of intimidation against 47-year-old Matome Shadrack Matlakala. She reported that he threatened to shoot her and was immediately arrested.
A short while later he was released on bail. He immediately went to Letsoalo’s home, shot her and drove away. He later committed suicide.
Independent consultant and past chairperson of the portfolio committee on police Annelize van Wyk said: “On the one hand SAPS explain their inability to deal effectively with murder of women as something that happens within the confines of the house. They are on record that the vast majority of murders of women are committed by their partners or someone close to them. Here is a woman who reported the threat against her by her partner. The police arrest him, yet a few hours later he is released on bail.”
Van Wyk and GBV commentator and researcher Lisa Vetten said because courts do not function at weekends, Matlakala must have been released on police bail.
A couple of questions arise. Was the deceased advised and assisted to get a protection order against him? If not, why not? The arrest took place on a Sunday, so one assumes the murderer was released on police bail. Why? Why not keep him in the holding cells overnight and take him to court the next day to be charged? Why the rush to release him?
— Annelize van Wyk
“A couple of questions arise. Was the deceased advised and assisted to get a protection order against him? If not, why not? The arrest took place on a Sunday, so one assumes the murderer was released on police bail. Why? Why not keep him in the holding cells overnight and take him to court the next day to be charged? Why the rush to release him?” Van Wyk asked.
Vetten agreed that Matlakala was an example of the typical GBV accused — one who should not qualify for easy bail, much less be released a short while after being arrested. That he was allowed to walk out of custody shows police are nowhere near ready for the three GBV acts signed by President Cyril Ramaphosa at the end of January.
“That legislation removes the rights of police to grant bail in the case of domestic violence. Those laws are not yet in operation, but this shows there has been no training or preparation for it, and so there is going to be a serious problem when it comes to implementation,” said Vetten.
She and more than a dozen organisations wrote to Ramaphosa last month to ask for a copy of the proposed regulations and an opportunity to comment on them.
After a lengthy wait, with no response, they received them last Thursday and have been given just three weeks to respond.
“It looks like nothing was done about it and now there is a sudden rush so it can be released in time for a big Woman’s Day bonanza,” said Vetten, adding: “You don’t actually need a law to decline bail in matters like this.”
Van Selm said the murder highlights the lack of victim support services at police stations and possible police corruption in cases in which there is high recidivism and offenders are “repeatedly released after a backhander”.
“The complexities need to be unravelled and examined. Was he drunk? Was he high? Suicide points to other pathological issues.”
“It’s a nightmare for women. They look for help, they think they’re protected and end up dead,” said Vetten.
Van Wyk believes police could have prevented the murder and that the case needs to be fully investigated to determine why the firearm was not confiscated and why a domestic violence accused was released.
“If the police don’t take violence against women and children seriously, we will not win this war,” she said.
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