House Chair, hon Deputy Minister, hon members, comrades, friends and guests ...
Agb Le Roux, ek dink nie die ANC-lede is so gekant teen wat u genoem het nie. Ek dink ons moet objektief wees wanneer ons kyk na die woord "vermeende" en wanneer ons 'n beskuldigde het. Ek wil u terugneem na die Rawsonville-geval in die Wes-Kaap waar 'n dame 'n klag teen 'n blanke boer gel het. Die boere was in opstand, want hulle het ges die vrou is omgekoop en sy was onder die invloed. Ek dink dis met dit in ons agterkoppe dat ons ANC-lede ges het ons moet versigtig wees.
Geen mens is skuldig voor hy nie skuldig bevind is nie en as ons op daardie gebied beweeg, moet ons versigtig wees. Hierdie is 'n baie sensitiewe saak. Iemand kan beskuldig word van verkragting en wat doen jy agterna as die man regtig nie skuldig is nie? So, ons moet objektief kyk. Dit beteken nie dat ons s verkragting is goed nie. Daarom ondersteun die ANC hierdie wetsontwerp en ons wil h dit moet deurgevoer word juis omdat ons bekommerd is en ons jare geneem het om dit daar te bring.
As ek u 'n paar jaar terugvoer na toe ek nog 'n klein klonkie was, was daar baie dinge wat aangegaan het. My ma het my vertel wat gebeur het en nie eens gerapporteer is nie, want ons was nog skrikkerig om na 'n polisiestasie te gaan. Jy het nie die goed gerapporteer nie. Ek wil u verder terugvoer en vir u s my moeder het my vertel van die apartheidsjare toe die verkragting van 'n swart- of 'n kleurlingvrou deur 'n blanke nie so 'n erge sonde was as wanneer 'n kleurling of 'n swarte 'n blanke verkrag het nie. Die stories is daar tussen ons mense en dit het gebeur, so ons moet versigtig wees. Ons moenie hierdie goed vergeet nie. Daarom wil ek 'n stukkie in Engels aanhaal. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)
[Hon Le Roux, I don't think the ANC members are that opposed to what you referred to. I think we need to be objective when we look at the word "alleged" and when we have an accused. I want to take you back to the Rawsonville case in the Western Cape where a lady laid a charge against a white farmer. The farmers were in an uproar because they said that the woman had been bribed and that she had been under the influence. I think it is with that at the back of our minds as ANC members that we said we should be cautious.
No person is guilty until he has been found guilty, and if we move on that terrain, we need to be careful. This is a very sensitive matter. Someone can be accused of rape, but what does one do afterwards if the man really was not guilty? So, we have to look objectively. That does not mean that we say rape is good. Therefore the ANC supports this Bill and we want it to be promulgated precisely because we are worried about it and it has taken us years to get it here.
If I take you back a few years to when I was still a little lad, there were many things happening. My mother told me what happened and what was not even reported, because we were scared to go to the police station. You did not report things. I want to take you back further and tell you what my mother told me about the apartheid years when the rape of a black or coloured woman by a white was not as great a sin as when a coloured or a black raped a white. The stories are there among our people and it happened, so we have to be careful. We should not forget these things. Therefore I want to quote something in English.]
It is horrifying as it is. Sexual violence against children is not a new phenomenon, nor is it peculiar to South Africa. Historical evidence has been found of childhood molestation, including incest, among the ancient Greeks and the Romans in the Renaissance accounts and during the Victorian period. - So, dit vind jy in alle rasse; alle kleure; alle mense; alle nasies. Ons moet dit verhoed as ons die nasie wil bou. Jy vind dit in stede en op plase en die Wes-Kaap het hierdie jaar 'n vreeslike jaar in terme van verkragtings beleef. Ons het Rawsonville gehad. Ons het Oudtshoorn gehad. In my eie kiesafdeling in Leeu-Gamka, die Prins Albert-munisipaliteit, het 'n boer 'n meisie verkrag.
U sien, dit kom weer terug na die vertrouensverhouding en dit is miskien een ding, Adjunkminister, waarna ons moet kyk. Ons gaan die nasionale register van verkragters h, maar onder die hele ding van "grooming" kan dit onderwysers wees - mense wat in 'n vertrouensverhouding tot ons kinders staan. Hulle name gaan nie op daardie register wees nie. Jy hoor van onderwysers. Hierdie was 'n boer. Dit was 'n blanke, maar tot die blankes in die Prins Albert-munisipaliteit het dit verafsku. Ons s vir hulle dankie, so dit is nie 'n ding van ras nie. Dit is mense in vertrouensverhoudings wat ons kinders gewoond maak en dan so "groom". Hoe help ons - hoe voorsien ons dit? Dit is ons almal se plig.
Die ander ding wat ook opvallend is, is die verantwoordelikheid van ons as ouers oor ons eie kinders. In die onderwysstelsel het ons nou 'n wet dat ouers daarvoor moet sorg dat hul kinders in die skool is. Hoe koppel ons dit aan ouers se verantwoordelikheid en toesig oor hulle kinders wanneer dit by seksuele teistering en dies meer kom? Baie dankie. [Tyd verstreke.] (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)
[So, you find that in all races; all people; all nations. We have to prevent it if we want to build this nation. You find it in cities and on farms, and the Western Cape has experienced a terrible year this year in terms of rapes. We had Rawsonville. We had Oudtshoorn. In my own constituency in Leeu-Gamka, the Prince Albert municipality, a farmer raped a girl.
You see, it comes back to the relationship of trust and that is perhaps one thing, Deputy Minister, we should look at. We are going to have a national register of rapists, but under this whole thing of "grooming" it could be teachers - people who have a relationship of trust with our children. Their names are not going to be on the register. You hear about teachers. This was a farmer. It was a white, but the whites in the Prince Albert municipality found it heinous. We say thank you to them, so it is not a case of race. These are people in a relationship of trust who groom our children and make them used to things. How do we help - how do we foresee it? It is a task for all of us.
The other thing which is also noticeable is the responsibility we as parents have for our own children. In the education system we now have an Act that says parents should ensure that their children are at school. How do we link it to the parents' responsibility and care of their children when it comes to sexual harassment and such things? Thank you. [Time expired.]]