Breaking the Silence | Inside Stellenbosch's Frontline Response to Gender-Based Violence
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Gender-based violence is not a private matter, it is a community one. In Stellenbosch and its surrounds, the people who respond to it every day, from the first phone call to the courtroom to the recovery room, rarely get to explain how the system actually works, or how to reach it.
Jacolette Kloppers hosts this conversation on Lunch Club, bringing together three people who meet survivors at different points of that journey: Detective Sergeant Preston Lombaard of the Stellenbosch SAPS Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit, State Advocate Cindy Abdol of the National Prosecuting Authority's Sexual Offences and Community Affairs Unit and the Worcester Thuthuzela Care Centre, and Dr Nontobeko Dyakopu, clinical lead at the Stellenbosch GBV Centre.
Between them, they unpack what the law defines as consent, who counts as a vulnerable person and why that status triggers mandatory reporting, and what a survivor can actually expect from the moment they walk into a police station or a care centre, medically, legally and emotionally.
What we cover in this episode:
- What the FCS unit does: Detective Sergeant Lombaard explains the unit's mandate across sexual offences, domestic violence and child protection, why every case is handled in a private trauma room rather than an open police counter, and why post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) must be administered within the first 72 hours after an assault.
- Consent, defined: State Advocate Abdol breaks down the legal definition of consent under the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act, why silence or freezing is never consent, why consent to one act does not extend to another, and why it can be withdrawn at any point, even within a marriage.
- Who counts as vulnerable, and why it matters: Advocate Abdol details the 2021 amendment that classifies female students under 25 living in university residences as vulnerable persons, triggering a legal duty to report even when the survivor does not want to open a case, and the criminal consequences for anyone who fails to report.
- Children and the age of consent: how South African law treats the age of consent (16) differently from the definition of a child under the Children's Act (18), and why a child under 12 can never legally consent, regardless of what they say in court.
- The Stellenbosch GBV Centre as a one-stop shop: Dr Dyakopu outlines the centre's free, 24-hour medical, psychological, legal and emergency accommodation services, how survivors can report directly to the centre without first going to a police station, and why confidentiality is guaranteed regardless of age or financial means.
If you or someone you know is experiencing abuse, help is just a call away.
Stellenbosch GBV Centre:
Cnr Old Helshoogte and Protea Street, Ida's Valley, Stellenbosch, 7600
+27 63 238 4280
www.gbvcentre.org.za
Jacolette Kloppers hosts this conversation on Lunch Club, bringing together three people who meet survivors at different points of that journey: Detective Sergeant Preston Lombaard of the Stellenbosch SAPS Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit, State Advocate Cindy Abdol of the National Prosecuting Authority's Sexual Offences and Community Affairs Unit and the Worcester Thuthuzela Care Centre, and Dr Nontobeko Dyakopu, clinical lead at the Stellenbosch GBV Centre.
Between them, they unpack what the law defines as consent, who counts as a vulnerable person and why that status triggers mandatory reporting, and what a survivor can actually expect from the moment they walk into a police station or a care centre, medically, legally and emotionally.
What we cover in this episode:
- What the FCS unit does: Detective Sergeant Lombaard explains the unit's mandate across sexual offences, domestic violence and child protection, why every case is handled in a private trauma room rather than an open police counter, and why post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) must be administered within the first 72 hours after an assault.
- Consent, defined: State Advocate Abdol breaks down the legal definition of consent under the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act, why silence or freezing is never consent, why consent to one act does not extend to another, and why it can be withdrawn at any point, even within a marriage.
- Who counts as vulnerable, and why it matters: Advocate Abdol details the 2021 amendment that classifies female students under 25 living in university residences as vulnerable persons, triggering a legal duty to report even when the survivor does not want to open a case, and the criminal consequences for anyone who fails to report.
- Children and the age of consent: how South African law treats the age of consent (16) differently from the definition of a child under the Children's Act (18), and why a child under 12 can never legally consent, regardless of what they say in court.
- The Stellenbosch GBV Centre as a one-stop shop: Dr Dyakopu outlines the centre's free, 24-hour medical, psychological, legal and emergency accommodation services, how survivors can report directly to the centre without first going to a police station, and why confidentiality is guaranteed regardless of age or financial means.
If you or someone you know is experiencing abuse, help is just a call away.
Stellenbosch GBV Centre:
Cnr Old Helshoogte and Protea Street, Ida's Valley, Stellenbosch, 7600
+27 63 238 4280
www.gbvcentre.org.za
