As women continue to fight for their lives in a country where gender-based violence is rife, police have come under fire for their alleged incompetence in handling a GBV case in Gugulethu.
A Gugulethu family is demanding answers to how police handled the scene where their daughter, Yulla Nontsomi Mdodana died on July 31.
Police initially ruled Mdodana’s death as “natural causes”, only for a second post-mortem result to reveal a murder, which led to her boyfriend’s arrest.
The “bungling” of the case has reignited calls from organisations and families of GBV victims for better training and a willingness by police to fight the scourge.
Non-governmental organisation that advocates for women's rights, Ilitha Labantu said the police handling of Mdodana’s case was “infuriating”.
Spokesperson Siya Monakali said Gugulethu police’s inaction sparked a march, demanding accountability.
“We are concerned about the manner in which GBV cases are handled, especially by frontline officers. We have initiated training sessions for various police clusters in the province on how to effectively address GBV-related matters.
Crime statistics released by Police Minister Bheki Cele on Friday showed a grim experience for women and children in the country.
Between April and June, 855 women (53,2% increase) and 243 children (46,4% increase) were killed in South Africa, while 9 516 rape cases were reported to SAPS during the same period.
“Police inadequacies or mismanagement of cases may be one of the reasons for the low conviction rate of only 14% ,” said Monakali.
The family of Mdodana, who was found dead at her boyfriend's house in NY7 felt let down by alleged police “negligence” in handling the scene.
"When the family was called out to the scene on the day of her murder, they found her half-naked body laid out on a (freshly) made bed. However, she had slight scratches on her face, a spot of blood on her cheek and a blood clot in her mouth.
“There were also blood stains on her top. Her jeans (were) covered with dirt and the shoes were scratched too. Despite these alarming signs, the police did not conduct forensic investigations, nor did they secure the crime scene.
“Instead, the family was ordered by the police at the scene to arrange with a private funeral undertaker to collect the body,” said a family spokesperson and neighbour, Makhosonke Yiba.
He said paramedics were called to the scene and the initial post-mortem results the family received showed that Mdodana’s death was ruled as “natural causes”.
“It was only after (the family) probed policemen and showed them Yulla’s clothing items that she had on before her death, did they decide to open an inquest and order the body to be taken to the state mortuary.
“The second post-mortem confirmed that she had died of unnatural causes. What was also alarming for us was a policeman claiming in front of us that they were constantly having to do damage control. We don’t want to speculate on what that means but it is unsettling,” Yiba said.
A distraught mother, Lindelwa Mdodana said had the perpetrator not handed himself to the police she shuddered to think what would have become of the case.
“I think of many victims whose families have not found closure because justice was not done on the cases,” said Mdodana.
Police spokesperson Col Andre Traut said initially a death inquest case docket was registered.
“However, further investigation revealed that she was murdered and the charge was subsequently changed accordingly.”
Her boyfriend, Sandile Mpongoshe, 39, was arrested and remains in custody on a charge of murder.
Researcher in gender violence at Wits University, Lisa Vetten criticised the police for “shoddy work” that could jeopardise the outcome of the case.
“A good detective would have known what to do at a murder scene. They should have secured the scene and organised the body to be taken to a state mortuary. There’s no excuse for how they handled the scene. They messed up and this might have implications for the trial,” said Vetten.
Civil rights movement, #NotInMyName said without police cooperation and a commitment to better serve communities, the fight against GBV would not yield desired results.
“It appears that we are fighting a losing battle. The police are ill-equipped to deal with the cases and sometimes cases get thrown out of court due to negligence when collecting evidence,” said the movement’s Western Cape spokesperson, Thabiso Molapo.
Molapo said township police stations need to improve their relations with communities and their understanding of GBV.
National spokesperson for #NotInMyName, Themba Masango said the movement had introduced a project called Policing the Police, where they encourage citizens and victims to hold police accountable.
“We get inundated with complaints from the public on GBV cases that are botched by police and perpetrators walk away due to negligence on the part of the police. One of the trends we have picked up is that police close cases without the knowledge of the complainants,” said Masango.
Western Cape police commissioner’s spokesperson, Brigadier Novela Potelwa, said all 151 police stations in the province had set up dedicated GBV desks manned by trained police.
Potelwa said GBV training formed part of the curriculum for trainees and after graduation from police academies, officers undertook refresher courses regularly.
Some of the areas covered during the training included dealing with vulnerable groups, sexual offences and domestic violence.
“Dealing with the scourge of GBV remains a priority for the SAPS. Where deficiencies are identified in relation to service delivery, alarm has to be raised with the relevant authority,” Potelwa said.