No violence drive starts

2006-11-26 09:12

Johannesburg - Gauteng Community Safety MEC Firoz Cachalia called on victims of family violence and abused children who were unhappy with police service to report complaints to his office, SABC news said on Saturday.

Cachalia was launching the 16 Days of Activism for No Violence against Women and Children campaign in Soshanguve, north of Pretoria.

"I want to encourage people who are unhappy with their experience to report these matters to my department so that we can take corrective action." Cachalia said a social support centre had been set up for abuse victims in Johannesburg.

"It is really a place of hope because we provide people with a complex set of support services apart from ensuring that their cases are effectively investigated."

This was while hundreds of people were expected to march in Johannesburg on Saturday afternoon in the annual campaign to raise awareness about violence against women and children.

Gender Links' Executive Director Colleen Lowe Morna said the march marks the beginning of the 16 days of Activism for No Violence against Women and Children campaign.

The marchers would gather at Constitution Hill, make their way to Hillbrow and then back to Constitution Hill. It would start at 17:30, said Morna while at 20:00 there would be a candle lighting ceremony.

The march - organised jointly by Gender Links, the City of Johannesburg and People Opposing Women Abuse - would end with the launch of a book highlighting the plight of women and children in the country.

Morna said the book called I Stories contained 20 stories on surviving gender violence.

She said about 60 international delegates from 22 countries would participate in the march "with the intention to assess management of gender violence in South Africa".

- SAPA