Higher Education, Science and Innovation Deputy Minister, Buti Manamela, announced on Tuesday that the department will bolster campus security to fight gender-based violence (GBV).
“We have built structures institutionally, which includes an extensive policy-making process, where all institutions need to integrate issues of gender-based violence, involving all stakeholders in campus,” he said.
The Deputy Minister was addressing high school learners at the Campus Community Forum at Walter Sisulu University in Mthatha, Eastern Cape.
The focus of the forum is on the scourge of crime and GBV, which continue to affect the fabric of society, and is pervasive in higher education institutions.
For this reason, one of the key objectives of the department is to eradicate crime and GBV in the Post-School Education and Training (PSET) sector.
Manamela said the number of women who report GBV at higher institutions of learning is on the rise.
According to Manamela, “proper” victim support structures are playing a key role in ensuring that those who feel at risk can approach an institution to report such crimes.
“More importantly, we want to make everyone on campus comfortable and aware of what we mean by sexual harassment, consent and toxic masculinity — issues that have perpetuated gender-based violence on campus.”
He believes that the release of crime statistics continues to highlight the extent of the problem of abuse against women and children.
“Most of these statistics are quite alarming,” he admitted.
The department responsible for higher education has since collaborated with the South African Police Service (SAPS) and other key stakeholders, such as campus management, to coordinate the much-needed interventions.
“What is pleasing is that we’re no longer sweeping crimes around gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF) under the carpet. Rapists and abusers who harass women, in particular, are finding there’s no longer space to hide.”
The Deputy Minister has also acknowledged the second Presidential Summit on GBVF that is currently underway at the Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand.
“The summit is based on the commitment that the President made and is indicative of the commitment that our government has made towards fighting and ending GBV and increasing the level of intolerance against it.”
Meanwhile, he spoke against the vigilante groups in pursuit of justice.
However, he has called for structures that will empower stakeholders on campus to help contribute to the role the police are playing in preventing crime on campus.
Manamela also stressed the importance of uprooting substance abuse.
“We have to ensure that our universities and TVET colleges, especially based in the township and more at risk of getting specific attention and get all the structures to work together with the police to prevent any form of crime and protect the lives of the students.”
Source: South African Government News Agency