Rape, prison and Julius Malema
A gender advocacy group is trying to shove self-righteous coolade down Julius Malema’s throat on allegations of hate speech. The ANCYL President is understood to have suggested that Zuma’s alleged rape victim enjoyed the sex because if she hadn’t, she wouldn’t have waited until the sun came out, had breakfast and asked for taxi fare. In my mind I am thinking, ok, what are the prescribed behavior patterns for rape victims? Obviously the youth leader who is coming across more as Zuma’s naïve lackey has no understanding or comprehension of the complexities of rape. Well, whether or not that woman did her things in that neat order the most striking thing is that imbeciles like Malema are left to lead the youth in South Africa. Surely political lapdogs like him are a liability to democracy and ought to be exterminated or locked up before they breed.
Speaking of locked up, the ZLHR today organized a workshop that sought to promote the rights of prisoners in Zimbabwe. Several presentations were made that showed that evidently, the state of or prisons is worse than abandoned dog kennels. Prisoners are hungry and walk around next to naked. Sexual and physical abuse is rampant and disease is claiming a lot of them in droves. The most touching were two things – mothers with little babies are locked up in there and have to share whatever meals they get with their children. There are no separate portions for the kids.
When the mothers menstruate, they have to use pieces of blankets for pads. Secondly; juveniles who have committed petty crime (although in my books there is nothing like that) are thrown together with hardened criminals who instantly turn them into wives, so to speak. At the end of a session, I found I wasn’t the only one struggling with indecision faced with the moral need to provide basic human rights to prisoners and the thought that a lot of them actually are hardcore criminals who have raped, robbed and killed our kith. The workshop continues tomorrow but for now I thought to myself, if Malema was to spend just one night at Chikurubi, I couldn’t give a rat’s ass if he starved.