Canaan Mdletshe

Canaan Mdletshe

KwaZulu-Natal Premier Sbu Ndebele has urged the magistrate at the Umlazi court, near Durban, to hand down a stiff sentence to a man who tore off a woman's pants before forcing her to parade on the streets last week.

Addressing hundreds of women in Durban yesterday during the launch of the Pan African Women's day, Ndebele said vigilantism should not, and would never, be tolerated.

"We need to set an example of this man. We can't allow self-proclaimed vigilantes to abuse and exploit our women in this day and age.

"I would urge the justice people to serve him with a harsh sentence to teach others a lesson," Ndebele said.

He said he was so ashamed when he heard about the incident while attending government's Lekgotla last week.

"Imagine the embarrassment I had to go through when they started asking me what was happening in KwaZulu-Natal.

"We need to fight against these self- appointed leaders.

"As the government of this province, we cannot tolerate what happened in Umlazi or anywhere in the province.

"We have not fought for this freedom in order for some chauvinists to assault women for wearing pants," Ndebele said.

He called on the province to reassert the right of women to choose whether they want to wear pants and to walk on township streets doing so.

According to the UN, violence against women encompasses a wide range of abuses.

These include physical, sexual and psychological violence occurring in the family and in the general community, battering, sexual abuse of children, rape and other traditional practices harmful to women.