NO CARS, COPS UNABLE TO ATTEND GBV CASES

MBABANE – Despite the increasing number of gender-based violence (GBV) cases, the Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS) is reportedly not equipped to fight it.

It is not a secret that GBV continues to be a pressing issue in the country, prompting calls from mainly pro-women non-governmental organisations for it to be declared a national emergency. By classifying GBV as a national emergency, it is hoped that government would allocate the necessary resources and funding to effectively combat this pervasive problem. It is essential to note that the majority of those affected by GBV are women and children, highlighting the urgent need for action. Also, the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence (SODV) Act, 2018, was enacted to empower the police to act on offenders, while at the same time ensuring that the courts gave tough sentences to offenders, sending a tough message.

Addressed

To address GBV-related issues, the REPS have a specialised unit called the Domestic Violence and Children’s Protection Unit. The unit has branches at all police stations and posts throughout the country, ensuring that they reach affected community members promptly. The primary objective of this unit is to prioritise the needs for GBV survivors when they come forward with complaints, including cases of rape. In the past, rape survivors needed a specific unit to address their concerns, instead of being attended to in the presence of others, who arrived to report other crimes.

However, concerning reports have emerged regarding the lack of resources available to adequately address GBV cases. The phrase: ‘we are grounded’ is now being used by some police officers, whom, speaking off the record said they were concerned about the lack of tools. They said it was not only vehicles as there was also a shortage of rape kits. The kits are used to assist during traumatic situation when a person is reporting rape. The police officers also said that they sometimes used personal funds to assist.

According to some police officers interviewed from various bases, nearly all police stations (and posts inclusive) had a shortage of vehicles to attend to GBV-related matters.
One police officer,  *Mkhaba, disclosed that he was aware of stations in the Manzini Region, such as Mankayane, Bhunya and Kapunga that they complained of lack of vehicles to go about their duties.

Attend

Mkhaba further revealed that, in some instances, police stations could only attend to less than 20 per cent of the reported GBV-cases, due to the lack of transportation resources. Tragically, some abuse survivors are forced to make their own way to the police station due to lack of vehicles. A police officer also revealed that this lack of vehicles, had in the past, resulted in fatal attacks. He also said the Manzini area appeared to have been hard hitting because it had a very high number of GBV cases. Recently, there had been calls to end GBV and that it should be declared a national emergency. More police officers are now saying that it would be impossible to end GBV without the necessary tools.

They blamed their superiors for this, accusing them of not taking time to understand what was taking place on the ground. *Jomo, who is also a police officer in the Hhohho Region stated that the REPS did not prioritise the matters, especially those under the SODV Act 2018. He said these cases also included rape or even some cases of assault. Jomo said an area such as Buhleni was very large and that it had many case of GBV, yet they did not have vehicles specifically for matters relating to GBV. Meanwhile, some police officers are now demanding that the Prime Minister (PM) should act on this. The PM is the minister responsible for the police.

Some police officers said they were of the view that the PM should treat this matter as a national disaster. Noteworthy, the PM Russell Dlamini is also the former head of the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA). There was hope among emaSwati that since the PM previously headed NDMA, he would be able to handle disasters effectively.

Received

Last Wednesday, our sister publication the Times of Eswatini reported that in an effort to end GBV, government received over 20 computers worth E500 000 to enable the country to have a system to manage it. The United National Population Fund (UNPF) handed over the hardware to the Deputy Prime Minister’s (DPM) Office and also the REPS. It was reported that the tools would help the country set up the digital management system for GBV cases. This, according to the report would strengthen the collection of GBV data, specifically on reported cases at all police stations.

The national commissioner (NATCOM) of police was quoted having said that the donation would address the issues of limited resources that have gripped the performance of the REPS.
Deputy Chief Police Information and Communications Officer, Assistant Superintendent Nosipho Mnguni also noted that she was aware of the challenges of the vehicles. However, she said the police always made means to ensure that they attended to every matter. Also, she stated that in some instances, police officers even used their personal vehicles to make sure that they assisted the survivors who reported to the police. Further, Mnguni revealed that the office of the NATCOM was working with the government to speedily resolve the issue.

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