EFF blasts SAPS over Kempton Park women’s murders

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) are accusing the police and the government of failing women after the bodies of five women were discovered in the Kempton Park area of Ekurhuleni over the past two months.

In a statement issued on Monday, the EFF says the deaths exposed the failure of the state to protect women’s rights to life, dignity and security, while questioning why police only appeared to intensify their response after public pressure mounted over the disappearance of runner, Elizabeth “Tsontso” Moselakgomo.

Moselakgomo has since been identified as the fourth body discovered in the area.

The party says the fact that more than one woman’s body had reportedly been found before a “meaningful and comprehensive intervention” by the South African Police Service (SAPS) raised serious questions about the force’s ability to identify patterns of violence and prevent further deaths.

“This raises serious questions about the capacity and willingness of SAPS to identify patterns of violence and respond appropriately with prevention of more violence and stop the disappearance of women with the urgency that such cases require,” according to the EFF.

READ: SAPS intensifies investigations after four women found dead in Kempton Park

The party rejects a policing culture in which missing women are treated as ordinary cases until families and communities generate enough public pressure to force state intervention.

The red berets believe that every missing woman should be treated as a potential victim of violence, and her disappearance should trigger an immediate and properly resourced investigation.

The EFF also took aim at what it described as a deeply entrenched culture of victim-blaming, saying women were too often told to be careful about where they went, what time they travelled, what they wore and who they associated with.

“This approach places the responsibility for preventing violence on the very people who are subjected to it, rather than on the men who commit these crimes and the institutions responsible for preventing and prosecuting them,” the party says.

The EFF says the scale of gender-based violence in South Africa shows why women cannot not simply be told to avoid certain places or change their behaviour.

It points to the latest crime statistics, which recorded 9,233 rape cases in the most recent quarter, with more than 40% occurring in the homes of victims or perpetrators.

“How women continue to be murdered in the same place when a clear pattern has been established speaks to a distinct lack of intervention that baffles the mind, and undermines the safety that women deserve in our country,” says the party.

The party also criticises President Cyril Ramaphosa’s response to gender-based violence, accusing him of failing to fund and implement reforms promised under the National Strategic Plan on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide.

The EFF is calling for a comprehensive investigation into the Kempton Park deaths, including an examination of previous missing-person reports linked to the area and the conduct of police in responding to them. It wants Kempton Park SAPS to account publicly for when it became aware of each body, what action was taken and why the response intensified only after public attention focused on Moselakgomo’s disappearance and the possibility of a recurring pattern.

“How women continue to be murdered in the same place when a clear pattern has been established speaks to a distinct lack of intervention that baffles the mind, and undermines the safety that women deserve in our country.”

READ: Mbalenhle Zuma | Five women’s bodies remind me why I stopped jogging

DA rejects ‘women must take precautions’ stance

The statement comes as the Democratic Alliance (DA) also criticised police for telling women in Ekurhuleni to “take precautions” amid growing fears over the killings.

DA Ekurhuleni mayoral candidate Khathutshelo Rasilingwane said women should not be expected to change their behaviour while police fail to prevent further violence.

“I must firmly reject the message from SAPS that women in Ekurhuleni must simply ‘take precautions’ while women continue to be killed in the Kempton Park area,” she said in a statement issued on Monday.

Rasilingwane, who said she comes from Olifantsfontein where the latest body was discovered, welcomed the establishment of a multidisciplinary task team but said this needed to be accompanied by more police resources on the ground.

“Quite simply, Ekurhuleni needs police boots on the ground now,” she said.

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