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Cape Town – While delivering his State of the Province address in Velddrif on Tuesday, Western Cape Premier Alan Winde placed emphasis on gender-based violence being a \u201cmajor problem\u201d in the province.<\/p>\n
He said urgent attention was needed to battle the scourge in the country and province.<\/p>\n
Winde made reference to the sexual misconduct allegations against community safety MEC Albert Fritz.<\/p>\n
The suspended MEC allegedly groomed young women in his office. He was suspended last month, after complainants came forward with affidavits.<\/p>\n
Winde appointed an independent investigator to look into the allegations against Fritz who also served as MEC for social development.<\/p>\n
Following his suspension, Fritz, who served as the DA\u2019s provincial leader, was suspended.<\/p>\n
\u201cCurrently, in my own cabinet, allegations of this nature have been made against MEC Albert Fritz. I have, therefore, suspended the MEC and instituted an Independent investigation by advocate Jennifer Williams, which is currently under way to determine the veracity of the allegations. I hope to receive this report soon, so that I can consider what action is needed in terms of my own powers.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is without a doubt that gender-based violence is a major problem in our province and in our country. It requires our urgent attention. What lies behind it is a culture of violence and of treating people as if they were objects, and not human beings.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt not only creates immense harm, but it also takes away a person\u2019s sense of empowerment and agency, undermining their ability to chart their own course and to live a full and rewarding life,\u201d Winde said.<\/p>\n
The premier committed to playing his part in the fight against GBV, by ensuring that his government did more to end the scourge.<\/p>\n
tarryn-leigh.solomons@inl.co.za<\/p>\n
Political Bureau<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Cape Town – While delivering his State of the Province address in Velddrif on Tuesday, Western Cape Premier Alan Winde placed emphasis on gender-based violence being a \u201cmajor problem\u201d in the province. He said urgent attention was needed to battle the scourge in the country and province. Winde made reference to the sexual misconduct allegations […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26025,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[7404,1209,691,566,2419,7403,4782,7405],"class_list":["post-26024","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-politics","tag-alan","tag-cape","tag-gbv","tag-major","tag-problem","tag-sopa","tag-western","tag-winde"],"yoast_head":"\n