Judiciary watchdog Judges Matter says the Public Protector’s report into systemic administrative deficiencies relating to gender-based violence (GBV) in the justice system is necessary to ensure that the decades of shortfalls within the justice system are addressed.
Public Protector Kholeka Gcaleka released her report on government’s ineffectiveness in dealing with gender-based violence cases.
This after she investigated 38 magistrates’ courts across the country.
The Justice Department had been accused of not putting adequate measures in place to effectively protect victims of GBV.
Advocacy Officer and Researcher at Judges Matter, Zikhona Ndlebe, says: “It‘s very concerning that there’s still issues such as these where people are not taken seriously when reporting GBV and asking for protection orders in our courts. There needs to be a lot of training, a lot of collaboration between all the stakeholders, a lot of sensitisation when it comes to GBV matters. The recommendations of the Public Protector are absolutely clear and they are very implementable, that there has to be a detailed plan to be developed by all the stakeholders on how they are going to go about resolving the issues that have been raised in the report. We are very hopeful that that will happen and we will continue to monitor the courts.”
VIDEO | Public Protector releases damning report on poor support for GBV victims:
