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Today marks 20 years since the Domestic Violence Act was signed into law. The Act was promulgated to ‘afford the victims of domestic violence the maximum protection from domestic abuse that the law can provide’.

However, the record shows that the protection provided by the Act, while necessary, has been far less than what we needed. Daily, we are reading far too many reports of vulnerable women and children falling victim to domestic violence. We have failed to enact adequate laws to protect them.

Considering this sustained threat to the safety of women and children, the DA has developed a plan to improve and strengthen the protections granted by the Domestic Violence Act.

The Domestic Violence Act must be consolidated with all the other laws that exist to protect victims for it to be effective. The processes in the Act must be easier to understand and simple enough for victims to execute.

The scope of the Act must be widened to include bullying and certain forms of stalking, among others, and provision must be made for instances when victims are forced to withdraw cases for their or their families’ safety.

The Act does not address minimum standards of care for those reporting domestic violence cases or provide for assistance from a social worker and this needs to change.

The existing legislation has also been the source of abuse and uncertainty. In some instances, both the Domestic Violence and Protection from Harassment Acts apply to a situation, creating confusion as to which process is to be followed.

In other cases, applications that were rejected by the court under one Act are often granted in terms of the other. The processes involved also differ, with neither making any explicit mention of the nature of proceedings that are to be followed in the presentation and adjudication of such matters.

While we recognise that the Act provides crucial protection to the most vulnerable sections of society, the existing legislation can be improved and built upon to eliminate abuse altogether.

The DA therefore proposes that the Domestic Violence Act and the Protection from Harassment Act be repealed and replaced with a universal instrument that will protect victims from abuse in all its forms, be it in the home, the workplace, from a family member, spouse, employer, unknown party, in the form of physical, emotional or economic violence.

The new law would set out a single procedure for laying a complaint and provide for specific processes that are to be followed by the SAPS, social workers and other role-players.

The instrument can be expanded to provide protection for children who are subjected to bullying at school or in their private lives. It can also be used to require certain minimum services from the Department of Basic Education in the rendering of counselling services to those who are abused.

The new legislation would include a mandatory referral by the court to the SAPS and NPA in cases where the set of facts set out by the complainant reveals a crime had taken place, for example assault or attempted murder.

We would also need to create statutory offences for police officials who fail to execute their duties under these laws. People’s lives depend on the police fulfilling their duties with the necessary care and diligence. We must demand that police officials treat cases reported to them with the seriousness they deserve.

For too long, women and children have been failed and endangered by ineffective legislation and this needs to come to an end. We will fight to guarantee the safety, dignity and wellbeing of the most vulnerable. Under a DA government, we would have an honest and professional police service that would ensure that women and children are effectively protected. However, a comprehensive legislative framework is crucial for this to happen.

This is why the DA will take steps to repeal the existing pieces of legislation and have these replaced with a stronger and simplified Act to protect the most vulnerable in our society.

Issued by The DA