Media statement
Solidarity Helping Hand
12 February 2010
Solidarity Helping Hand calls for reinstatement of CPU after 8-year-old girl’s ordeal at police station
Solidarity Helping Hand is calling for the reinstatement of the Child Protection Unit (CPU), following yet another incident in which the South African Police Service (SAPS) disregarded a child’s basic rights during the lodging of a complaint. This call comes after recent reports about the ordeal an eight-year-old girl suffered when she wanted to lodge a complaint of sexual molestation at a police station.
According to Helping Hand, the incident once again highlights the police’s poor handling of cases involving children, mainly as a result of the shortage of specialist units. “The government phased out child protection units in 2006 to make the service more accessible for communities. Since then, the percentage of convictions in respect of crimes against children has gone down significantly,” explains Dr Danie Langner, chief executive of Helping Hand.
The daily paper Beeld yesterday reported that an eight-year-old Afrikaans girl, who had allegedly been sexually molested, was unable to make a statement in her mother tongue at a Johannesburg police station. The station apparently also did not have an Afrikaans-speaking forensic social worker to evaluate the girl. According to the girl’s foster mother, the girl could not understand the English-speaking counsellor. The foster mother indicated that she could not pay R5 000 to have an Afrikaans-speaking private forensic social worker evaluate the girl.
On Wednesday, Helping Hand once again requested the Deputy Minister of Police, Fikile Mbalula, the Minister of Police, Nathi Mthethwa, and the Minister of Women, Youth, Children and People with Disabilities, Noluthando Mayende-Sibiya by open letter to reinstate the CPU, especially in view of the imminent Soccer World Cup. Solidarity has been warning authorities for some time that crimes against children will see a sharp rise during the Soccer World Cup.
“The incident once again shows the police’s inability to deal with cases of sexual assault and kidnapping, especially those involving children, with the necessary sensitivity. It also highlights the need for the reinstatement of the CPU,” says Dr Langner. “Nothing has come of the government’s promises to reinstate the CPU. In the meantime, numerous instances occur where children’s rights are violated because there is a lack of dedicated and trained police officials who specialise in cases involving children.”
In another incident that was brought to Helping Hand’s attention recently, a mother whose two-year-old son was almost abducted in Weltevredenpark was questioned without a counsellor being present. In terms of regulations, a counsellor must be present in such cases during questioning. The mother was questioned in the charge office of the police station by a male police official.
“The ministers promised last year in parliament and in the media that the CPU will be reinstated. Empty promises will not protect our children from human trafficking during the Soccer World Cup,” he adds. According to Dr Langner, the SAPS does not realise the unique needs of children who have been victims of crime. “In 2008, Helping Hand created a child-friendly room at the Hercules Police Station where children could report crime. The room was dedicated to the memory of Sheldean Human. However, the room is now being used as an office,” says Dr Langner.
An exclusive interview with the mother whose two-year-old son was almost abducted recently was broadcast last Monday on Helping Hand’s programme Mense op Maandag on Solidarity Radio. Click on the link to listen to the interview: http://www.solidariteitradio.co.za/?p=4756
Surika van Schalkwyk
Solidariteit Helpende Hand
Kommunikasiebestuurder
www.helpendehand.co.za
www.solidariteitradio.co.za
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