Hellbent on making an indelible mark in the fight against the spike in sexual offenses and the scourge of Gender Based Violence, Eastern Cape Provincial Commissioner Lt Gen Liziwe Ntshinga has declared war to GBV through a multi-disciplinary operation and rolling out series of awareness campaigns at Chris Hani District.
This 10 day sustained assault on crime and GBV that began today is planned to cover rural towns of Cofimvaba, Ngcobo, Lady Frere, Dalasile and Queenstown policing precincts and expected to end on 30 April 2021.
The multi-disciplinary operation and awareness intervention was a result of a spike in murder and rape during 2020/2021 financial year provincial crime statistics as well as the unacceptable conduct of killing of elderly people, mostly women, accusing them of witchcraft that keeps rearing its ugly head.
Today’s activity covered the two towns of Ngcobo and Cofimvaba. The day began with school visits, Vehicle Control Points (VCP) and Door to Door campaign at Ngcobo and Dalasile.
A Vehicle Check Point was set up along R61 enroute to Ngcobo, monitoring motorists’ compliance to National Road Traffic Act Regulations. Motorists were also engaged about issues relating to Gender Based Violence and Femicide.
Police accompanied by Junior Management Core (JMC), Men for Change, Women’s Network and Community Police Forum (CPF) as they proceeded to Engcobo Village High, Manzana Senior Secondary School, Manzana Junior Primary School and Mzikayise High School for school visits.
During their visits they spoke about the following topics:
– Illegal Drugs
– Substance Abuse
– Dangerous Weapons
– Gender Based Violence
– Sexual Abuse
– Abduction
– Human Trafficking
– Bullyism
– Discrimination and Homophobia, and
– The Junior Provincial Commissioner’s Concept
Warrant Officer Vika from Ngcobo SAPS during her address she warned the learners about criminal activities in and out of school environments. She warned learners against altering school equipment to use as dangerous weapons to harm others.
To end the School Safety visit program today, members made a last stop at Manzana Junior Primary School where they shared crime prevention tips relevant to the young ones. The children seemed to appreciate police presence and also had lots of fun.
Cofimvaba The team was divided into three (3) groups to focus on Vehicle Check Points, Compliance by liquor outlets and Gender Based Violence Awareness Campaign respectively.
Junior Management Core led the collective forces through the streets of Cofimvaba Central Business District (CBD).
Women’s Network, Men for Change, Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS) Unit were all hands on deck doing a Gender Based Violence Awareness Campaign concurrently with the operational duties in the same vicinity.
In an effort to reduce negative impact of alcohol abuse, a number of liquor outlets in Cofimvaba CBD were inspected for compliance with Liquor Act Regulations.
Compliance with Disaster Management Act Regulations were also strictly monitored and enforced.
Senior Management applauded foot soldiers for their sterling work in maintaining order at these Chris Hani District policing precincts.
Eastern Cape Provincial Commissioner Lt Gen Liziwe Ntshinga encouraged the members to work with diligence and maximize their safety. “Through these awareness and operational intervention we hope to not only react to rise in GBV and Sexual Offences as these are crimes mostly happening in the comfort of the home or happening between related or familiar people. It is our hope that more people will see the police and come out to proactively report in order for an intervention to be done before it becomes too late. We implore the people at this area to use this awareness opportunity to report any incident of Gender Based Violence or sexual violation.”
