Chairperson, Minister Ndebele, welcome and good luck with your debate on transport, especially as we are headed towards the busy festive season.
Ndiqinisekile ukuba mna nawe siza kudibana apha endleleni, mna ndisilwa nabaphuli-mthetho. [I am sure we will meet along the way, I will be dealing with the criminals.] [Interjections.]
Minister Ndebele is saying that criminals are always using transport. [Laughter.]
It is sad to be told at the very moment when we are debating this matter that a child has been kidnapped in Lenasia, Gauteng, only a few minutes ago. It is bad.
I would like to thank all members who participated in this debate. It was very interesting. I listened to all members and discovered that we were really prepared for this debate. We mentioned legislation, machinery that has been put in place by the ANC since 1994 and the grey areas in these pieces of legislation. This means that we as Members of Parliament need to review some of these legislative clauses in order for us to be able to implement them.
Thank you, chairperson Mabe, for identifying the role that is being played by the NGOs in society. I know there are many NGOs that tirelessly assist our communities in fighting the scourge of child abuse within their ranks.
Hon Van Rooyen and hon Faber, the interdepartmental approach by all sister departments is of vital importance, of course, and we have correctly identified that. Child labour, as was mentioned by members here, is a crime, but in order for us to know where this crime is happening, we need you to tell us which farmers are doing that. Then we will definitely arrest them, with the help of the Department of Labour.
Ntate Mofokeng, ke dumellana le wena ka tse ngata tseo o di emisitseng, haholoholo ha re tla tabeng ya hore re fumana tharollo jwang hore re kgone ho sebedisana mmoho le setjhaba. Ke dumellana le seo o se buileng, ha o ne o re mohlomong re hloka ho tiisa tsebo ya sepolesa ka hara sepolesa. Sepolesa se tle se tsebe hore se etsa eng ha se tobana le diphephetso tseo se kopanang le tsona twantshong ya botlokotsebe, haholo bo amang bana. Dintlha tseo o buileng ka tsona tse mabapi le se etsahalang ka hara porofensi ya Foreisetata ... (Translation of Sesotho paragraph follows.)
[Mr Mofokeng, I agree with a lot of the issues that you have raised, especially when it comes to the matter of how we go about finding a solution to working together with society. I agree with what you said when you said that perhaps we need to emphasise knowledge within the police so that they have enough information as to what to do when they are faced with challenges that confront them in the fight against crime, especially with regard to children. As for the issues that you have mentioned in relation to what is happening in the Free State province ...]
... we have taken note of them. I also indicated in my speech that on top of the recruitment of skilled people that we are engaged in, we must have our own police officers retrained on how to handle cases of child abuse, especially children who have been raped.
Ma Ngobeni from Mpumalanga - a beautiful province, of course - you are right. I agree with you that cyber crime is getting out of hand. When we introduced cellphones, laptops and computers, it was for good purposes. Unfortunately, Minister Ndebele, we got ourselves into trouble because they are not being used for the good purposes that they were meant for. Once your child starts clinging to the laptop or jumps up whenever you enter the room, you must know that there is a problem or that he or she is engaged in mischief.
Hon Feldman, you spoke about the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Units, their role and the kind of people who are being deployed in those units. I was in the Eastern Cape a few weeks ago. I was looking at the list of police officials who had been deployed to handle cases involving children and I discovered that most of them were men. I asked senior management why they had about 70% men handling those cases. The senior women who were in that meeting told me that they had a problem with deploying women who were already in the system to those units because most of them were saying that if they were sent there, as mothers, they would kill those criminals and be sent to prison themselves. We are now starting afresh. We are getting outside people who have the special skills needed to handle children who are affected by this kind of crime.
Mr Mokgoro, indeed, families have a bigger role to play in bringing up their own children. Parents must be their own children's role models. You can't be a role model xa uvuka ekuseni uthume umntwana ukuba aye kukuthengela iibhotile ezimbini ze-Black Label if the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning is to send a child to go and buy two bottles of Black Label for you and then expect to build a person of good character out of that child.
O ke ke wa roma ngwana wa re ho yena: "Tloho le bojwala mane, ntlele Black label, hoseng a tsoha feela". [You can't send a child on an errand and say: "Go and get me some alcohol. Bring me a Black Label, first thing in the morning".]
Then you expect to build a human being out of that child! You will never build a human being that way.
MEC Mokomele-Mothibi, thank you for highlighting the role that is being played by the Department of Social Development and all relevant sister departments in your province.
Hon Hartnick, as police leadership we are saying that we shall arrest even our own members if they are found to be in conflict with the law. Hence we mentioned that members of the police have been arrested. Indeed, we did arrest certain officials for rape and child abuse in this financial year. Credit must be given to the ANC-led government, which came up with the famous 16 Days of No Violence Against Women and Children campaign. [Applause.] This campaign should be a 365-days campaign focusing on the same issue.
Hon Sikhosana, those who hide behind ukuthwala and abduct a minor will be arrested and charged with kidnapping and rape. You cannot expect a 10-year- old child to be a woman. If you do that, we will arrest you and charge you with rape.
Hon Sylvia Lucas, my friend and comrade, you mentioned the killing of five children by their own mother. I agree with one member who said that we are living in a sick society, because the person who is supposed to protect them is the one who decides to kill them. There is no other way of responding to this incident than to say that we are living in a sick society.
Somebody spoke about the adoption of children. If you don't want your children, give them up for adoption. We have families that find it very difficult to have their own children. Let us not kill our children - rather give them up for adoption.
Hon Boroto, I agree with you that our people need to be educated about their rights, especially those on farms in rural communities. When they are being forcefully raped they think it is a man's right to do that because he has something they don't have. It is not a right. As politicians and public representatives, it is our role to teach people about their rights. We also need to teach our people about the issue of farm labour.
Malibongwe igama lamakhosikazi! [Let the name of women be praised! [Applause.]
Debate concluded.