Girl-child under siege-Francistown mayor
Chakalisa Dube | Monday October 2, 2023 06:00
The figures were disclosed by city mayor Godisang Radisigo when briefing an ordinary full council meeting this week. The mayor said he is deeply worried by high volumes of child welfare cases especially sexually-related offences such as rape, defilement, and indecent assault against minor girls.
According to him, currently there are 206 child welfare cases which are being handled by different agencies such as the police, Magistrates, and High Court. The cases covered the 2022/2023 financial year.
“Out of the 206 cases, 39 of them are of children facing various charges such as murder, rape, robbery, unlawful wounding. One hundred and five cases are sexually-related offences against children, majority of which involve perpetrators known to the victims and their families. Twenty-nine are cases of child neglect and cruel treatment.
As a society we need to assume our full responsibilities especially parental guidance and protection,” the mayor said. The mayor also bemoaned high school drop out in the city.
According to him, in 2022, schools around the city recorded a total of 37 dropouts. The situation does not look like will recede, he said. “In 2023, by term one we already had nine dropouts; from which four were due to desertion, three to truancies, one to pregnancy and one because of ill health. The figures presented indicate that desertion is becoming a major concern in the city especially affecting the boy-child,” Radisigo told the council. He said reasons for the dropouts are due to drug and alcohol abuse as well as negligent parents or guardians.
He further pointed out that efforts are being made to bring the deserted boys back to school through the city’s Child Protection Committee, dikgosi and social workers. Figures released by the councils across the country this week have also highlighted that young girls remain very vulnerable to sexual abuse. For example, on Monday the Okavango District Council disclosed that it is experiencing a high number of child sexual abuse cases.
The council chairperson, Gaopalelwe Ronald, said the district has recorded 155 cases related to sexual offences, which were recorded in the last financial year, which ended in April.
“One hundred and forty-three cases are defilement, eight are rape and four are social cases. The department has closed a total of 62 cases this financial year, most of them being defilement cases. This paints a very bad picture on the safety of children in our families and communities and is not good for our mental health; it brings trauma to both the child and community,” Ronald said. The Mahalapye District Council chairperson, Banthasetse Merementsi, expressed similar concerns. During a full council meeting last week, Merementsi reported that the district registered eight cases of defilement last month. Merementsi further noted that there is an increasing number of rape cases involving minors under the age of 18 years. In August, the district recorded 11 cases of rape involving children.
Addressing a Tutume District Council full council session recently, the council chairperson Thatayaone Kehitile said the district is faced with escalating social ills that range from gender-based violence (GBV) to sexual abuse of minors. He said they have recorded 220 cases involving minors since 2017. Kehitile said out of the 220 cases registered, 196 occurrences of defilement, rape, and incest involving minor have been reported to the police. “This includes 135 defilement and 60 rape cases respectively. Since 2017, the district also recorded six cases of negligence of children, seven cases of emotional abuse, and one of incest and child abandonment case,” he added.