The father of musician Bongekile “Babes Wodumo” Simelane expressed doubt that her daughter’s attacker would ever see the light of day in a courtroom due to corruption at a Durban police station in Westville, their home town.
This was due to the attacker Mandla ‘Mampintsha’ Maphumulo’s habit of bribing police officers at Westville Police Station in the past to ensure that his abuse of Bongekile was not investigated, Father Simelane charged.
But Beukman said the police’s primary role was to protect citizens and to uphold the rule of law and any acts of bribery should be investigated and prosecutions must be initiated.
He said he was worried that men continued to abuse their partners, with police records showing that one out of five women are assaulted in the country.
“South Africa is facing a serious problem of gender based violence and one of the pillars in dealing with this scourge is a police service that is at the forefront, in not only arresting perpetrators, but also ensuring that cases were properly investigated to ensure effective prosecutions,” Beukman said.
He said the national commissioner of the South African Police Services (SAPS) together with the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Commissioner must urgently investigate these allegations. If bribery was found to have taken place, the officers concerned must be prosecuted, he added.
The committee remained of the view that cases of abuse of women and children must at all times receive priority from police to rid the country of these abhorrent acts, Beukman said.
“We cannot as a society stand by when abuse is meted out on women and children,” Beukman emphasised.