Court ruling exposes systemic failures in tackling gender-based violence in Belhar

IOL News

4 days ago

Judge Mas-Udah Pangarker said the judgment should send out a strong message that rape and gratuitous violence are not taken lightly by the courts.
Image: File
A man's failed appeal against his life sentence has flecked open the injustices his estranged wife suffered following a drug-fuelled rape and gender-violence attack, which brought the woman within inches of losing her life.
The judgment recently made in the Western Cape High Court, again shone the spotlight on the beleaguered Belhar police station, where the victim - in a critically bruised and bloodied state - was left without help for more than two hours while attempting to report the crime.
In handing down judgment, Judge Mas-Udah Pangarker said the judgment should send out 'a strong message that rape and gratuitous violence of the nature that the complainant faced, as do so many other women and children, are not taken lightly by the courts'.
Judge Pangarker ordered that the current station commander at Belhar SAPS investigate the circumstances and reasons why the complainant, who cannot be named, was not promptly assisted on or about October 15, 2019.
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The estranged couple are parents of two minor children who now are in the care of family after the father was jailed and the mother, regretfully, finds herself back on the streets having again succumbed to her drug addiction.
Enquiries to SAPS had not been answered by deadline.
Judge Pangarker said the court had 'stepped beyond the traditional role as the appeal court because of the horror of the (man's) actions and the abject failure of police assistance when it was so desperately needed'.
In the judgment, the judge ordered that after the station commander writes a report after their investigation and submit it to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), which should in turn then provide training to the personnel and police officers at Belhar police station on the proper and expeditious handling of rape, sexual offences and gender-based violence offences, and the treatment of victims and complainants of such offences.
Judge Pangarker said the DPP may, if it deems necessary, enlist the assistance of the Commission for Gender Equality in respect of such training.
'The court was also concerned as to whether the complainant had received the necessary counselling for the trauma she suffered. Far too often victims of crime and women and children in particular, regretfully fall through the cracks of an overburdened criminal justice system when it comes to post-trial attention and ongoing counselling. We were gratified to be informed through the diligence of counsel for the State, that the complainant had received some counselling.
'(The woman) of her own volition, expressed to the court that she hoped that this matter may help other victims of gender-based violence and rape, as she wished her story and experience to be heard. To the extent that we have taken this unusual approach to the matter, we hope that this judgment sends out a strong message that rape and gratuitous violence of the nature that the complainant faced, as do so many other women and children, are not taken lightly by the courts,' said Judge Pangarker.
The conduct of the community, who ignored the woman's first plea for help when she approached a neighbour for assistance, was also lamented by Judge Pangarker.
'This brings me to the surrounding community and neighbours whose conduct featured in the trial. The first neighbour, who notwithstanding a desperate plea from a visibly bleeding and bludgeoned complainant who begged her for help, simply refused to assist her, explaining that she did not wish to become involved in what she regarded to be no more than a domestic squabble.
'Such attitudes may not be isolated and given the high and pervasive levels of violence in the Western Cape, some community members fear for their lives when aiding injured persons. Needless to state, the broader fight against gender-based violence is compromised by such complex realities. Moreover, the real fears harboured by neighbours and other community members and the reality of violence should not be underestimated nor ignored,' said Pangarker.
Ilitha Labantu spokesperson, Siyabulela Monakali, said the judgment must serve as more than a footnote in legal history.
'Ilitha Labantu strongly condemns both the heinous gender-based violence perpetrated against the survivor and the gross negligence displayed by the Belhar police station. That a woman, bruised, traumatised, and seeking help, was made to sit in agony for over two hours without assistance reflects a staggering failure of duty by law enforcement. These are not just procedural oversights; they represent deep institutional shortcomings that routinely fail survivors of gender-based violence in South Africa.
'The survivor in this matter was doubly victimised, first by her estranged husband in a violent and brutal assault, and then by the very system meant to protect her. Such injustice is a direct consequence of a lack of urgency, care, and accountability within some arms of our criminal justice system,' said Monakali.
He added that they do not believe a single round of training and an internal investigation are sufficient to remedy what has occurred.
'Training without enforcement, oversight, and a shift in institutional culture is inadequate. What happened at Belhar SAPS is not an isolated incident, it is symptomatic of a broader national crisis in policing responses to GBV,' said Monakali.
He said the organisation over the past five years have proactively worked to close these gaps by offering GBV sensitisation and response training to SAPS stations across the Western Cape.
Monakali said to date, Ilitha Labantu has capacitated nearly 100 police stations across various districts, recognising that many officers are not adequately trained to deal with the complexities of GBV-related cases. These trainings, accepted voluntarily by the police stations, are offered free of charge, and is done as part of their commitment to building a justice system that works for survivors.
'Survivors of gender-based violence are consistently encouraged by government, civil society, and the broader public to report incidents to the police as a vital step toward justice and protection. However, incidents such as the one at Belhar police station severely undermine those efforts. When survivors are met with delays, indifference, or secondary victimisation at the very institutions meant to support them, it discourages others from coming forward.'
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