Hon Chairperson, the ACDP recognises the critical importance of legislation that would serve to enhance the health and wellbeing of our nation, given the current challenges we face locally, as well as globally, and the impact of these challenges on our economy.
It is stated that the role of a National Health Institute is to provide leadership and directions to programmes that are designed to improve health and to support research in among other things, understanding of mental addictive and physical disorders. There is a critical need for an entity such as the National Institute for Injury and Violence Prevention that forms part of NAFISA. As such, we wish to highlight the following.
The ACDP wishes to highlight the critical need for us to research and focus on mental health as a contributor to violence crimes against the most vulnerable people in our society - our women and children. The Minister of Social Development, Lindiwe Zulu, during our discussion on gender-based violence, GBV, said the following, and I quote, "We must get inside the heads of these people who commit such crimes."
Reportedly, a staggering 1 000 children are murdered annually in Cape Town alone. Our communities are suffering under violence. It is as such that the ACDP supports this legislation. We are asking that there needs to be critical research into psychiatric disorders and the significant impact that it has on our communities. We need to research effectively what will stop these violent crimes from being perpetrated upon our children.
It has been reported that the man that is responsible for the death of Tasne Van Wyk was kept in his house because his family feared what he would do to children. We have to ask them. We need to then emphasise how important it is for the prevention of violence against women and children - that research be conducted. The ACDP supports this legislation. Mr A M SHAIK-EMAM Ms M E SUKERS