Pretoria – Personnel responsible for the coordination of the Victim Empowerment Programme at government level will be capacitated with skills and knowledge.

This will ensure proper implementation of the government’s commitments with regard to the empowerment of victims of crime and violence.

This was announced by Department of Social Development’s Chief Operating Officer, Zane Dangor during the unveiling Programme of Assistance to the Victim Empowerment on Wednesday.

Mr Dangor said a network of victim empowerment civil society organisations will be established.

These civil society organisations will render services to victims of crime and violence will be funded and receive financial management and other related skills.

“The purpose of this programme is to support the Victim Empowerment Programme of South Africa by developing the capacity of the department to lead the intersectoral and intergovernmental programme.”

The programme comes as a result of a partnership between the department, the European Commission and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

"The programme aims to make the criminal justice process more victim-friendly and minimise the negative effects of crime on victims," said Mr Dangor.

The emphasis will be placed on prevention of victimisation, providing support, protecting and empowerment of victims of crime and violence, while a special focus will be placed on vulnerable groups such as women, children, elderly and people with disabilities.

He further indicated that there was a need to give life to the Victim’s Charter.

Quoting from President Thabo Mbeki’s State of the Nation Address, he said: “ Our success in the fight against crime depends on cooperation among all of us as law-abiding citizens, inspired by the principle of law, respect for our judiciary and pursuit of equal human rights, which our Constitution enjoins us to observe in our daily lives.”

The Victim’s Charter encourages victims to be more active in demanding their rights from administrators of the country's justice system.

Through the charter, departments and related state institutions aim to build a culture of human rights which challenge the perception that criminals have more legal rights than victims.

So far the charter has led to the formation of a number of pro-victim initiatives in various sectors, including setting up multi-disciplinary rape care centres which ensure that rape victims are treated with dignity.

Some of the pro-victim initiatives include establishing a new Correctional Supervision and Parole Board by the Department of Correctional Services, which, for the first time in the legal history of South Africa will give victims an opportunity to make presentations to the Parole Board and attend hearings.

Government has further prioritised creating child victim or witness rooms with one-way glass partitions installed in 35 courts countrywide.

The Service Charter for Victims of Crime in South Africa, which was approved by Cabinet in 2004, was officially unveiled last month and it combines the current legal framework on the rights of victims of crime.

This year marks the 10th Anniversary of the VEP. The programme was launched in August 1998 under pillar one of the National Crime Prevention Strategy of 1996.

Since then four one stop centres for victims of crime and violence have been established in the Eastern Cape, Mpumalanga, Northern Cape and Western Cape. – BuaNews