Stop harassing Bushmen

OMEGA 1: The Omega Young Women’s Group, supported by the Women’s Leadership Centre (WLC), is calling for an end to police violence against the Khwe community in Omega 1. The group has reported that last week a young man, Kajere Sake, aged 24 years, was hospitalised at Andara Hospital after being severely beaten by a police officer in their village, having been accused of stealing a chicken. The young man was returned to Omega 1 [this week] in a poor physical condition, and he has had no access to the medical report from the hospital, which has been taken by the police.

A charge of rape was laid on 19 October 2012 against the same police officer by a member of the Omega Young Women’s Group, and despite complaints to NAMPOL, the Office of the Prosecutor General and the Office of the Ombudsman, this officer has still not been charged with this crime, not even removed from the community. Leaders of the Omega Young Women’s Group have reported to the WLC that this police officer is currently threatening to kill one of the members of their group if he loses his job due to their exposing this violence. The Omega Young Women’s Group staged a march on Wednesday, 13 November in Omega 1 to call for the immediate removal of this police officer from their community, as well as an end to police violence and police impunity. “We do not feel safe in our community, and we don’t have access to justice. We need more police officers here who speak our language and can communicate properly with us instead of violating our rights through rape and beatings,” said one of the young Khwe women. The group requests support from the media to create visibility for their demands.
Liz Frank
Women’s Leadership Centre