Celeste Barker

The Democratic Alliance Women’s Network (Dawn) is very sad to hear of the tragic rape and assault of an NMMU student (The Herald, October 3). We support freedom, fairness and opportunity for all and uphold the preamble and the Bill of Rights in our national constitution. Dawn calls on President Zuma and his cabinet to make women’s rights real, to translate paper promises into rights that build a safe country in which all women can walk the streets fearlessly and in safety.

One in three South African women will be raped. South Africa is the global rape capital and this is not a statistic to be proud of. We grieve with the Payi family, and appeal for the respect and dignity that they deserve to mourn the death of their precious little girl. We also appeal to the entire community of New Brighton not to take the law into their own hands. Please let justice run its course. Violence begets violence.

During this post-election period there has been the most amazing concentration on identity manifested largely in a debate about hair politics for schoolgirls. Writing, speaking and debating have both a political function and transformative potential. So I write with the passion of a feminist politician who has a radical commitment to equality, freedom and fairness focussed on women’s rights in the largely patriarchal, chauvinist milieu that informs South African codes of conduct.