Women’s Month officially closed with parade by female law enforcement officers
WOMEN’S Month was officially closed on Monday with a parade by female law enforcement officers at the N12 weighbridge just outside of Kimberley.
Female officials from the provincial Department of Correctional Services and the SANDF, as well as local traffic officers and SAPS members, took part in the programme.
The MEC for Transport, Safety and Liaison, Nomandla Bloem, the Deputy Provincial Commissioner for Crime Detection, Major-General Koliswa Otola, and the Provincial Commissioner, Lieutenant-General Risimati Shivuri, encouraged women to continue to play their “exceptional role” in the country.
Bloem, in her keynote address, urged the women to take active and leadership roles in society.
“Women, just like men, contribute to the general well-being of our economy and our communities. Working in law enforcement as women, we found ourselves in an environment that remained, until recently, closed to the equitable and merited promotion of women in offices of power,” said Bloem.
She stated further that gender-based violence and patriarchy were some of the social ills that needed to be eliminated in society.
“Most of the violence that occurs against women and children happens in the home and the perpetrators are often family members or partners. We need to find ways to penetrate the walls of patriarchy that prevent these homes from receiving protection services for women,” she said.
Bloem also called on law enforcement officers to give gender-based violence cases the required urgency and sensitivity.
“We need to promote improved dignity and care in how we receive, process and resolve cases perpetrated against women and children. We have certain policies and process guidelines in place to ensure that we attend to cases of violence against women and children. Our victim-friendly facilities cannot become ‘white elephants’ created only for the sake of compliance,” said Bloem.
The team afterwards spoilt more than 200 female pupils with gift bags, containing toiletries and sanitary towels, and also addressed 61 pupils from Aalwyn Intermediate School about the importance of adhering to the Covid-19 regulations.
