POLICE Minister Bheki Cele has called on men to treat women as fellow human beings.
He was addressing residents of Masoyi in Mpumalanga during a ministerial imbizo on Friday.
Residents told him stories of rape and other heinous crimes.
Masoyi recently made headlines after a 25-year-old man was arrested for raping, strangling and burying five young women in his yard.
Cele said women were not created to please men and needed to be respected.
“Women are people like you. They’re full human beings and don’t have to get permission from you to be full human beings,” Cele said.
Residents accused the local police of corruption. One woman said she was raped by three men and the cops didn’t want to open a case.
The woman claimed they asked the suspects for bribes to make the matter go away.
Resident Nonkululeko Maziya said she hoped Cele’s visit would change the way police operated.
