Johannesburg - Violence against women and children has reached unacceptable levels both in Gauteng and South Africa as a whole, Gauteng community safety MEC Sizakele Nkosi-Malobane said on Sunday.
Speaking at the launch of the annual 16 Days of Activism campaign for no violence against women and children in Johannesburg, she said Gauteng had recently experienced a high number of violent incidents against women, children, and other vulnerable groups.
"The aim of the campaign is to mobilise communities to actively participate in the fight to eradicate violence against women and children. The launch event will also mark the establishment of the department’s Men As Safety Promoters (MASP) programme within the [minibus] taxi industry.
"The establishment of MASP emanates from the serial rape and robbery incidents which took place in the taxi industry between April and May 2017 in the Booysens, Orange Farm, and Roodepoort policing precincts," Nkosi-Malobane said.
Men were supposed to be protectors of women and children as well as providers for their families, she said.
"On Thursday we witnessed the sentencing of the rapist Lebohang Gift Mokoena, who was involved in the popular 'Quantum case'. Mokoena was sentenced to 353 years imprisonment for all the crime he committed, including rape."
Nkosi-Malobane said she hoped Mokoena's sentence would serve as a deterrent to all men who disregard the rights of women and children.