Adults who are aware or suspect any act of domestic violence against a child, disabled or older person, must report it or face being prosecuted themselves.
This is but one of the changes made to the Domestic Violence Act. The amendments were signed into law last year, and came into operation on Friday April 14.
In order to create awareness and educate people about the changes, three organisations – Callas Foundation, Mosaic and the Women’s Legal Centre – have joined hands to host interactive workshops with civil servants and community first respondents. The first respondents include neighbourhood watches, community police forums, religious leaders, traditional leaders, non-government organisations and health practitioners, among others.
On Wednesday May 10, a group of police officers from Manenberg attended one of these workshops at the Dulcie September minor hall in Athlone.
Kerryn Rehse, advocacy co-ordinator at Mosaic, who facilitated the workshop about the changes in the Domestic Violence Act, said the changes were made to align with the Children’s Act and the Older Persons Act.
Ms Rehse said a major change in the Domestic Violence Act is that a survivor of domestic abuse can now also apply for a Safety Monitoring Notice, which is a new provision in the law – especially if the person shares a living space with the alleged abuser. She explained that the Safety Monitoring Notice, which is a court order, means that a police officer will have to check up on the victim between the time of a Protection Order application until the court date when the order will be made permanent, or denied.
“Essentially, what this means is that a police officer will have to communicate with the complainant daily, either via WhatsApp, emails and home visits. If the officer is denied access to the home by the alleged abuser, the police officer can use force to enter the property,” Ms Rehse said.
This did not sit well with the police officers at the workshop, with many pointing out the dangers of having to do home visits alone, as the alleged abuser might be armed. Some also complained that this will further increase their already heavy workload.
Captain Ian Bennett, spokesperson of Manenberg SAPS, said: “Members investigating a case must ensure timeous feedback to every client. Sector managers have a duty to visit crime scenes and ensure proper feedback is given to the complainant. Based on this, the legislation around the domestic violence Safety Monitoring Notice, ensures that victims of domestic violence are secured and safe, in the case where victim and perpetrator are still in a relationship or have a shared living space. Our sector managers have always had the obligation to ensure that all our victims of crime receive proper support, counselling and continuous feedback until the case is finalised.”
Zubaida Wilson from Callas Foundation also hosted a session with the police officers on socialisation.
“The officers were very receptive and there was good participation from them. What they did here today was to empower themselves and to impart that knowledge to others. We don’t have control about how other people are socialised, but we do have control over how we respond to it,” she said.