Rights fight boosted

CAPE TOWN – Traditional leaders and government officials in South Africa have launched an initiative, Project Ndabezitha, in a bid to end high domestic violence levels in rural areas.

“We are a country under siege and the high levels of (domestic) violence suggest this,” said Thoko Majokweni, head of the sexual offences unit of the National Prosecuting Authority, said at the launch in Cape Town at the end of last week. She said the NPA requested traditional leaders to enter into an agreement with the government to fight domestic violence after a 2003 study revealed that most “people still trust them”.The study was conducted by the NPA in Limpopo last year, she said.Project Ndabezitha would be carried out in Mpumalanga, Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal as a pilot project in September.Mpiyezintombi Mzimela, the chairman of the National House of Traditional Leaders, said it was crucial that his members formed part of the project.”South Africans need an environment of human rights protection in all its social context,” Mzimela said.”The launch… today signifies without any shadow of doubt that the institution…is by its very existence at the forefront of the administration of justice.”- Nampa-SapaShe said the NPA requested traditional leaders to enter into an agreement with the government to fight domestic violence after a 2003 study revealed that most “people still trust them”.The study was conducted by the NPA in Limpopo last year, she said.Project Ndabezitha would be carried out in Mpumalanga, Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal as a pilot project in September.Mpiyezintombi Mzimela, the chairman of the National House of Traditional Leaders, said it was crucial that his members formed part of the project.”South Africans need an environment of human rights protection in all its social context,” Mzimela said.”The launch… today signifies without any shadow of doubt that the institution…is by its very existence at the forefront of the administration of justice.”- Nampa-Sapa