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COSATU Free State is highly concerned about the high rate of incidents of abuse, rape and murder of women and children in the province.

We have been watching the developments recently and are shocked by the figures which came up.

The following are some of the incidents whose reports have become known to us in the past thirty days reported upon in the media:

• 11/05/2016 – A man was arrested for the rape and murder of 18 year old Grade 12 girl in Bolata, Qwaqwa
• 17/05/2016 – A man was arrested for the rape and murder of 14 year old girl in Morelig, Bethlehem
• 18/05/2016 - A man was arrested in connection with the murder of a 7 year old child in Vrede
• 20/05/2016 - A 32-year-old man was arrested in connection with the rape of a 6-year-old girl in Hani Park in Bronville, Free State 
• 24/05/2016 - A 21-year-old man was arrested in connection with the murder of a 17-year-old girl at Christiana farm near Albany in Meloding, Free State police

We shudder at the thought that there might be incidents which could have happened during this period and have not been reported.

The trend seems to be that when the incidents have not been reported it gives the perpetrators a false confidence that they are invincible!

We need to break that trend as a society and reclaim our society which is abuse, rape and murder free!

We call on the authorities to act with speed on such incidents and that the perpetrators should be hunted, arrested and thrown into jail with maximum sentences without an option of parole or community corrections.

COSATU Free State would be announcing soon a program which would seek to bring together stakeholders in the society to confront this anomaly.
We refuse to accept the prevalence women and children abuse as a normal situation in our province and thus reject it with the contempt it deserves.

Issued by COSATU Free State