Helen Zille : DA crime campaign - 'Government is soft on crime, tough on the victims of crime’

'Government is soft on crime, tough on the victims of crime'

Speech extract by DA leader Helen Zille at the DA Victims of Crime
Imbizo held in Durban.
2 August 2008
South Africa has become a utopia for criminals and a dystopian
nightmare for victims. Nowhere else in the world is the balance so
tilted in favour of those who rape, murder and pillage.
Most criminals are free to operate with impunity, safe in the
knowledge that their crimes will go unreported or undetected. If they
are caught, there is a good chance that they will never face justice:
police dockets disappear, evidence goes missing, prosecutors are not
adequately prepared, the results of forensic tests are delayed, and
cases get postponed over and over again until they are dismissed.
Two pages of our Constitution are devoted to the rights of arrested,
detained and accused persons. And yes, we do believe that every person
is entitled to due process of just law. Every person, including Jacob
Zuma, must be equal before the law and every person must have the
right to a fair trial.
But while the rights of criminals are entrenched, there is nothing in
law that protects the rights of the victims. There are no laws that
set out victims' rights and guarantee redress for the crimes
perpetrated against them. There is no law compelling the state to
provide counselling and psychological support for victims of crime.
When criminals are imprisoned they enjoy rights that many South
Africans living in poverty have never achieved. I am not suggesting
that prison is a picnic, but it is true that prison inmates are
guaranteed rights that are denied to many. Prisoners have the right to
medical treatment. They have a roof over their heads. They get food
regularly.
We are one of the few countries in the world where prisoners have the
right to vote. It is surely a great irony that law-abiding citizens
who have left the country because of crime are not entitled to vote,
while those that perpetrated the crimes can continue to participate in
elections.
The fact of the matter is this: Our criminal justice system is soft on
crime and tough on the victims of crime. Our government has failed to
understand that a violent crime is not just an offence against the
state; it is an offence against a human being. And this is how victims
of crime need to be treated – as human beings.
It is often said that when a South African is a victim of crime, they
are a victim twice. They are victimised first by violent criminals and
then victimised again by the criminal justice system. This has to
change.
Upholding the rights of victims must become a key focus area of our
criminal justice system. There needs to be a legally enforceable
Victims of Crime Charter that sets out exactly what the rights of
victims are and how they will be enforced.
A Victims of Crime Charter would give citizens the right to be treated
with fairness, respect and dignity. It would give victims the right to
be informed of police investigations at key stages, to have the court
process explained to them and to be given access to a counsellor or
social worker if there has been trauma. It would give victims the
right to be consulted and to provide input at bail applications, plea
bargain hearings, and sentencing and parole applications.
Victims' rights should form part of the basic training of all workers
within the criminal justice system. We propose the establishment of
victim support training centres where police and other relevant
officials take mandatory courses on protecting and upholding the
rights of victims.
No amount of money can undo the damage wreaked by violent crime, but
no victim should have to suffer financial losses as a result of it.
All victims of violent crime should be entitled to compensation for
the emotional, psychological and medical trauma they are put through.
Under a DA government there would be a Victims of Crime Fund to pay
for psychological treatment and counselling, medical expenses, loss of
earnings, burial and funeral expenses, moving or relocation expenses,
job retraining for disabled victims and financial support to care for
the dependents of a murder victim.
If we are to become a compassionate, caring society we need to put the
rights of victims first. Every successful society in the world must
protect its most vulnerable members. In South Africa today, that is
you, me and every other law-abiding citizen.
In our vision of an open, opportunity society the criminal justice
system would work for the victims and against the criminals. We would
cut down the opportunities for criminals and give victims the
opportunity to rebuild their lives. This is not an impossible dream.
With the right ideas and the political will, we will beat crime. We
will never give up.