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The Commission for Gender Equality (CGE) believes that women have been humiliated by police who have raided their homes to find goods which were supposedly looted.
It is now calling for an investigation into any unjust incidents in order to have punitive measures taken against those who are found to have erred in the process.
While the commission has condemned the looting of shops and malls, which took place in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal earlier this month, it says there are many ways of punishing people without having their rights infringed on, as purported in video footage.
“As a human rights institution, the CGE cannot turn a blind eye to various videos circulating in social media platforms, wherein men, women, the elderly and children were treated in an inhumane manner for stealing. The commission does not condone any form of stealing, however, degrading people and dehumanising them does not also make it less of a crime,” according to commission chair Tamara Mathebula.
Law enforcement agencies have embarked on a painstaking mission to recover goods looted from shopping centres in the two provinces. These goods include appliances and electronics, as well as food that residents cannot account for.
READ: ‘They saw items on the kitchen table and just took them’
Acting Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni explained last week that recovered goods would be destroyed, as their resale value would have a negative impact on the economy.
The CGE has also condemned an incident in which women were made to swim in a liquid that looked like water or alcohol spillage.
“No matter how angry were those who made those women do such an act allegedly in Mamelodi Mall, it cannot be that women were objectified or demeaned in such a manner. Those women in the videos are mothers, sisters and aunts to many. Imagine the humiliation they will suffer for having been subjected to such acts.
“The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, in Chapter 2, guarantees everyone rights. And those rights extend to the looters too. The law must be applied, but not in the manner in which people had their dignity and bodily integrity removed,” Mathebula said.
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