Saturday, April 26, 2008

TAC march to stop violence

On 26 April, the day before we left Cape Town, some of us went to Khayelitsha to join Jung and Michelle, who had interned at Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), for a march against violence.

Below are several articles describing the march. Pictures taken at the march can be found at http://picasaweb.google.com/marita.mccomiskey/TACMarchAgainstViolence

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Hundreds say no to gender violence


This article was originally published on page 5 of The Cape Argus on April 27, 2008

Led by Nwabisa Ngcukana, the young woman assaulted for wearing a mini-skirt at a Johannesburg taxi rank, hundreds of protesters on Saturday marched against gender violence in Khayelitsha.



The march, aimed at highlighting violence against women and children and held on the eve of Freedom Day, was planned by the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) and supported by the Western Cape Youth Commission, the Western Cape Provincial Taxi Council and a host of other community-based organisations.



The protest comes two months after Ngcukana was attacked by taxi drivers and hawkers at the Noord Street taxi rank in Soweto for wearing a short skirt.



The march started at Harare Park and was soon joined by over 100 children dressed in school uniforms as it wound past the house where Nandipha Makeke, a TAC activist, was raped and murdered in 2005.



Sporting posters reading "Real Men Don't Rape" and "Hands off our Children", the protesters proceeded to the Harare police station where a memorandum of grievances was handed to the area's visible policing head, Superintendent Mncedi Mdonga.



There, TAC deputy general-secretary and former chairperson Zackie Achmat slammed police and Community Safety MEC Leonard Ramatlakane for not doing enough to keep perpetrators behind bars.



He said it was "sad" that criminals were arrested for one or two days and freed to continue raping and killing innocent women and children.



"We should assist police find the perpetrators," said Achmat.


He said Ramatlakane had failed the people of Khayelitsha and the TAC for not responding to their continuous pleas for "firm action" against criminals and rapists.



"Today we are not only angry at criminals, but also at the government," he said.



Carrying a brightly coloured banner reading: "I feel good in my mini-skirt", Ngcukana, 25, said she didn't expect so many people and children at the march.



"This is wonderful," she said, "especially on the eve of Freedom Day and the launch of the Mini-skirt Festival which kicks off in Soweto tomorrow."



Ngcukana said although her experience was "extremely traumatic", the many mini-skirt campaigns and anti-gender violence drives around the country had highlighted the plight of women, especially those living in townships.



Accepting the memorandum on behalf of Codeta and all taxi drivers in Khayelitsha, Peter Thethani, of the Western Cape Provincial Taxi Council, said the council condemned the actions of industry colleagues in Johannesburg.



He said although it was "culturally wrong" for Ngcukana to have worn a mini-skirt to a taxi rank, taxi drivers should not have assaulted her.



"We are against the violence, but we do feel that women should be dressed appropriately in public. That is the Xhosa tradition."



Key points in the memorandum handed to police and the taxi council include a call for community action and mobilisation to rid communities of gangsterism and crime, faster prosecution of criminals, more rape crisis centres and an end to victimisation of survivors by police and court officials. 



The next march against gender violence is planned for May 22 to the provincial legislature in Cape Town.






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TAC to Take Action to Stop Criminals Threatening its Members in Khayelitsha
3 April, 2008 - 18:37 — moderator

Since 2003 TAC Khayelitsha members have been actively involved in campaigns against violence, particularly violence against women, children, gays and lesbians.

On 16 December 2005, a TAC member 18 year old Nandipha Makeke, was raped and murdered. On the same day another member, Mandla Nkunkuma, was attacked and shot. Mandla Nkunkuma identified his attacker as Yanga Janet who was later arrested for the rape and murder of Nandipha Makeke.

TAC Khayelitsha activists rallied for over two years to see justice done in the murder trial of Nandipha Makeke in which four men stood trial. We attended over 20 court appearances.

On 17 March 2008 the charges against Zukile Fumbatha (accused No.2) and Janet (Accused No.4) were dismissed, because there was insufficient evidence to convict them. Janet was subsequently released.
On 2 April 2008 Thembinkosi Ntukani (accused No.1) was found guilty of murder and of being an accomplice to rape, while Bonga Sibhozo (accused No.3) was found guilty of murder and rape. Both were also found guilty of illegal possession of firearms and ammunition.

When TAC members queried the status of the investigation on the shooting of Mandla Nkunkuma we were informed the docket was lost. Since then it has been relocated but important medical records are mysteriously missing.

Janet, a known gang leader, and his associates have been intimidating and threatening TAC members, predominantly in the Harare area of Khayelitsha. Janet has made it known to many, including one of TAC's members directly, that he plans to murder a number of TAC members in order to “finish what he started”. Three TAC members targeted by Janet have therefore been accommodated outside of Khayelitsha in a safe house at TAC's expense as they fear for their lives.

On Sunday 30 March 2008 the home of one TAC member was broken into and Slulamile Hlonendlini, another member, was stabbed by an assailant suspected to be associated with Janet's gang. Both incidents took place in Harare, Khayelitsha. Hlonendlini had to be hospitalised at Tygerberg Hospital for four nights.

Yanga Janet and his thugs gather daily on the corner of Hlonela Street and Mew Way Road. This corner is an important bus and taxi stop for many residents of Harare. This is also the corner on which Janet shot Mandla Nkunkuma in 2005. This same location is where they regularly intimidate TAC members, particularly women, calling them names, staring at them menacingly and taunting them about their involvement in TAC.

TAC Khayelitsha has mobilised against violence against women since the rape and murder of Lorna Mlofana (a TAC member) on 13 December 2005. It is ironic and tragic that the members of an organisation dedicated to improving safety and justice in one of South Africa's biggest townships, now feel they do not have the adequate protection of the police or the courts.

TAC has therefore decided to take the following actions:
• An urgent court application is being sought to get a protection order against Yanga Janet and his associates.
• We will hold a public march in Harare Khayelitsha on 17 April focusing on community and gender based violence. We will protest the slow functioning of the judicial system and campaign for appropriate policing and investigation.
• We will hold a march in Cape Town on 8 May 2008 on the same theme.
• We will step up our community education and mobilisation programs.

TAC calls on the ANC, government, SAPS, community organisations, faith based organisations, trade unions, and ordinary community members to join us in our campaign against violence.

We will not allow our communities to be ruled by gangsterism, crime and violence. This campaign can be won, like many others in the past, through broad-based community organising.
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