South Africa Vision

President Cyril Ramaphosa says the approval of three critical pieces of legislation will strengthen the criminal justice system and ensure harsh penalties for those found guilty of GBV.

“These gruesome acts of violence cannot go unpunished. They must strengthen our resolve to end gender-based violence in all its forms. We must strengthen our efforts across all fronts,” President Ramaphosa said on Sunday evening during his address to the nation.

On 1 September, the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) passed three bills – namely the Criminal and Related Matters Amendment Bill, Domestic Violence Amendment Bill and the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act Amendment Bill – which will change the landscape in terms of how government departments, law enforcement and the courts deal with cases of violence against women and the vulnerable.

The House passed two of the bills – the Domestic Violence Amendment Bill and Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Bill with amendments, and the two Bills were scheduled to be sent back to the National Assembly. The Criminal and Related Matters Amendment Bill, meanwhile, was scheduled to be sent to the President for assent.

In his address on Sunday, the President lamented that Women’s Month witnessed many GBV cases, at a time when the country had planned to celebrate the success of women in many fields.

Among other cases, Fort Hare law student, Nosicelo Mtebeni, was murdered and dismembered in East London; a Grade 1 pupil from Khensani Primary School in Soshanguve was raped in the school’s toilets; Palesa Maruping, was found hanging from the ceiling of a house in Khuma Location in the North West, and Pheliswa Sawutana was strangled to death in Kosovo informal settlement in Cape Town.

“The courts are increasingly handing down judgements for life imprisonment for statutory rape, robbery and aggravating sentences that involve rape.

“We continue to implement all the pillars of the National Strategic Plan against Gender-Based Violence and Femicide. Ultimately, the success of this work depends on the actions that we all take to end this pandemic of violence against women and children,” President Ramaphosa said.

He called on men to understand that the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the country’s Constitution belong to all people, men and women alike.

Social Relief of Distress

Touching on the recent public violence that occurred in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal, where a number of businesses were looted and destroyed, President Ramaphosa said government continues to implement measures to assist households, employees and businesses that have been affected by the pandemic and by the public violence.

“Since we reopened applications for the special Social Relief of Distress grant in the first week of August, we have received nearly 13 million applications. Of these, 8.3 million applications have been approved, and payments have started to these recipients,” the President said.

According to President Ramaphosa, just over 3.7 million applications were declined, mainly because applicants have other identified sources of income or are registered for assistance like the UIF and NSFAS.

“Around 845 000 applications are still in the validation process. Along with the other measures we have put in place, this grant is providing critical assistance to unemployed South Africans at this most difficult time,” the President.

Source: South African Government News Agency

Thusong Service Centres continue to play a vital role in giving South Africans access to government services, particularly those who live below the poverty line in rural and disadvantaged areas.

Deputy Minister in the Presidency, Pinky Kekana, said that government remains committed to ensure that services reach and meet the needs of the people and ultimately closing the gap of inequality.

“The Thusong Service Centre Programme has been reaching about six million beneficiaries every year through the Integrated Mobile Outreach Programme, and it is our goal to increase this number of beneficiaries’ year on year. This is both a government target and one I have taken on as an individual commitment to you, in my new role as Deputy Minister in the Presidency,” Kekana said.

The Deputy Minister was addressing the launch of the seventh Annual Thusong Service Centre Week on Monday, in Botlokwa, Limpopo.

The 2021 Annual Thusong Service Centre Week takes place in conjunction with Public Service Month, under the theme: “The Year of Charlotte Maxeke – building the capacity of the State through a resilient workforce that respond to the coronavirus pandemic.”

The Thusong Service Centre Programme Service Delivery Model focuses on a perfected integration of partnerships with civil society and the private sector, to achieve a successful model that South Africans can be truly proud of.

Kekana extended her gratitude to partners who have supported the programme since its inception, for more than two decades.

“The partnerships with Phelophepha Train, Samsung, Digi-Titans, and the newly on boarded Think WiFi Company, to name but a few, have all yielded further positive initiatives which lead to our people benefiting through even more access to information and opportunities of development projects and economic activities, thereby contributing to the alleviation of poverty and increasing job creation,” she said.

She added that the centres have played an important role in the vaccination rollout programme by providing information on vaccines and some of the centres being identified as vaccination sites. The centres are a resource to communities for access to information and opportunities, beyond just basic services.

“Some of these services include SEDA (Small Enterprise Development Agency) for those seeking to enter the world of entrepreneurship and looking to be capacitated and supported through government funding, as well as youth advisory services and civil society offerings to assist in various societal and community based needs,” Kekana said.

Over the last 22 years, Thusong Service Centres has served as a base from where information about communication and activities take place, including government outreach events around gender-based violence (GBV), 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children campaign, government’s programme of action, South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) initiatives and many more.

“There is no doubt that this ‘one-stop’ programme of action implemented and sustained by government, for almost as long as our country attained freedom, has had a positive impact on the lives of our people. Through the Thusong Centres, government has been accessible and visible, where information and services are provided with a human face, based on the principles of Batho Pele that was the essence of the early democracy,” the Deputy Minister said.

As part of lessons taught by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Deputy Minister said that the digitalisation of the Thusong Centres basket of services are prioritised in the list of technology interventions required for government services, to ensure that citizens are assured of the continuation of access to information and opportunities through the centres.

Source: South African Government News Agency