COMING face-to-face with a person who raped and threatened to kill you, in a bid to mend the relationship, is not an easy task.
A 19-year-old woman from Langeloop village in Shongwe, Mpumalanga, said yesterday that she could not see herself having a conversation with her attacker.
She was raped in 2008.
She was in attendance yesterday when Minister of Correctional Services Sbu Ndebele launched the Victim-Offender Dialogues at Secunda Stadium.
"It will be as though he is raping me again. That will never happen," the woman, whose identity is being protected, said. "Nothing that man will say or do will ever take away the pain of what he did to me."
Ndebele said: "The objective of the Victim-Offender Dialogues is to put the victim back at the centre of the corrections system, as the victim is directly, and personally, affected by the criminal act of the offender. Equally, the offender must be given an opportunity to reflect on his or her wrongs and request forgiveness."
However, KwaMhlanga businessman Samuel Mokwena, 52, is also doubtful.
He said his family home and business premises had been broken into several times this year. "I was hit with a gun on my head. My wife and employee were tortured. I felt so helpless. I do not know the people who have been attacking my family and I do not think I would want to mend a relationship with them."
The department said it was embarking on a renewed focus to bring victims and offenders together in a safe space where relationships could be restored and forgiveness sought.
"We want to create opportunities where various stakeholders defined as victims of crime, those affected personally, their families, communities, community-based organisations, non-governmental organisations, religious and spiritual bodies, educators, councillors and local leaders, will assemble together with offenders with a single purpose - to rebuild our communities ravaged by crime."
Ndebele said "the community, as the victim of crime, therefore needs to move away from retribution and distrust for the concept of rehabilitation into a new movement that seeks partnerships to reduce crime".
Still too traumatised to face man who raped her
COMING face-to-face with a person who raped and threatened to kill you, in a bid to mend the relationship, is not an easy task.
A 19-year-old woman from Langeloop village in Shongwe, Mpumalanga, said yesterday that she could not see herself having a conversation with her attacker.
She was raped in 2008.
She was in attendance yesterday when Minister of Correctional Services Sbu Ndebele launched the Victim-Offender Dialogues at Secunda Stadium.
"It will be as though he is raping me again. That will never happen," the woman, whose identity is being protected, said. "Nothing that man will say or do will ever take away the pain of what he did to me."
Ndebele said: "The objective of the Victim-Offender Dialogues is to put the victim back at the centre of the corrections system, as the victim is directly, and personally, affected by the criminal act of the offender. Equally, the offender must be given an opportunity to reflect on his or her wrongs and request forgiveness."
However, KwaMhlanga businessman Samuel Mokwena, 52, is also doubtful.
He said his family home and business premises had been broken into several times this year. "I was hit with a gun on my head. My wife and employee were tortured. I felt so helpless. I do not know the people who have been attacking my family and I do not think I would want to mend a relationship with them."
The department said it was embarking on a renewed focus to bring victims and offenders together in a safe space where relationships could be restored and forgiveness sought.
"We want to create opportunities where various stakeholders defined as victims of crime, those affected personally, their families, communities, community-based organisations, non-governmental organisations, religious and spiritual bodies, educators, councillors and local leaders, will assemble together with offenders with a single purpose - to rebuild our communities ravaged by crime."
Ndebele said "the community, as the victim of crime, therefore needs to move away from retribution and distrust for the concept of rehabilitation into a new movement that seeks partnerships to reduce crime".
Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Trending
Latest Videos