Cele does it again: ‘I can’t imagine a beautiful woman with a zama zama’

Instead of updating the public on the investigation into the horrific attack on a film crew in Krugersdorp 10 days ago, police minister Bheki Cele on Saturday told the community he could not imagine a beautiful woman with a zama zama (illegal miner).

Cele visited West Village, where a group filming a video at a mine dump on July 28 were attacked by a large group of zama zamas. Five of the eight models were gang raped.

While more than 130 zama zamas have been arrested on various charges, none has been linked to the attack.

The minister spoke at an imbizo after a week of violent protests in which community members in nearby Kagiso hunted down illegal miners, set fire to shacks, stripped men naked and beat them with sticks.

Kagiso residents also blocked roads in the area as they “cleaned up” their neighbourhood.

One person died in the protests.

Cele told the community: “Zama zamas are disrespectful ... I saw the victims, they are beautiful models. They are young people and I’m sure they were happy and enjoying themselves [at the shoot].

“I can’t imagine a zama zama with a beautiful woman ... They come here and go underground and take our gold, but what tells them to go into communities and start committing crimes?”

Cele said men should allow women to sleep peacefully at night.

“Many of us have to do that. You must allow women to own their bodies. I’m told that rape has become a hobby in this area. It’s a big prison and not a community,” Cele said.

The minister placed the blame for rampant crime on  socioeconomic issues.

Referring to media coverage, he said: “I watched Kagiso burn and I realised that most of the people there were youngsters and schoolchildren. When things are happening, you call us [police], but we don’t look at other sectors of government for intervention.”

He said unemployment and communities that protected criminals were a major contributing factor to crime.

Cele this week came under fire after saying one of the victims in the attack was “lucky” she had “only” been raped by one man.

The minister has been accused of “grandstanding” and making “emotional statements and empty promises for the cameras”.

Cele told residents on Saturday that he had heard their outrage at the lack of consistency in the police's response to crime.

I can’t imagine a zama zama with a beautiful woman ... They come here and go underground and take our gold, but what tells them to go into communities and start committing crimes?

—  Police minister Bheki Cele

“Unleash all the forces ... let’s protect humanity. When a woman goes to the police station to report a crime, that’s her last resort. Stop repeatedly telling women to go home and negotiate [with perpetrators], the next time she will be dead.

“Find those people, they must be punished accordingly. I will make sure to take these cases to the relevant people,” he said.

The minister said though police could do better, the issue of zama zamas was complex.

“We need to follow the gold, who buys this gold? The zama zamas don’t look like people who have gold. What’s worse is that you will find 14-year-olds from Maputo working at these mines and they don’t know their names. It’s clear they are being trafficked.”

Ntombizodwa Ntsumba, 46, who participated in the community imbizo yesterday,  said only time would tell whether anything would be done about crime. 

“I feel they [police] will do something, however the community must hold them accountable. We will annoy the stakeholders and make sure they solve our problems,” she said.

Ntsumba said the community was “too receptive” to the minister's “nonchalant”, flippant  remarks. 

“He felt welcome and comfortable with the community. We are not interested in his jokes, but action against the crime,” she said.

“People went there to get a sense of hope; most of us are vulnerable. It could be poverty, unemployment, inequality and so forth. So it makes sense that they were receptive of the minister’s nonchalant comments.” 

The minister has made several public appearances in recent weeks to address security concerns after shootings and other violence. 

During a briefing in Pretoria on Monday, he detailed the shortage of police and promised that backlogs at forensic pathology laboratories would be dealt with. He called the Krugersdorp rapes “the shame of the nation”.

“Some of [the victims] are artists, singers, some are young models. These are people trying to make a better life. What happened is a destruction of their future.”

His address was slammed by the DA's spokesperson on police, Okkie Terblanche. He said the minister was putting on “a performance for the cameras instead of announcing real interventions to address the violence crisis in our country”.