04 May 2022

The heavy-handedness of the law on the boy child has been blamed for perpetuation of passion killings.

Sojwe resident Ms Kenna Masole told the Presidential Commission of Inquiry on Review of the Constitution Tuesday that the boy child lacked adequate protection of the law, hence men’s propensity to take the law into their own hands when they felt hard done.

She thus proposed for the constitution to protect men the same way it did with their female counterparts.

Additionally, she asked that the age of majority be reviewed upwards.

Ms Masole said it being pegged at 18 disadvantaged men and put them at risk of being jailed for defilement.

The resident said culturally 18 year-old females were considered grown enough to be able to consent to sexual relationships.

“Unlike in the past, today’s 18 year-olds lead males on and entice them into sexual relationships with them, with the result that our boy children get thrown in prison for defilement,” Ms Masole observed.

She also requested for the law to not acknowledge the existence of marital rape, arguing that it did not exist.

Representing Shadishadi residents, Mr Bushi Masogo called for the review of Section 10 (c) to curtail the rights of suspects of serious crimes.

In an interview later, Mr Masogo suggested that murder, rape and stocktheft suspects should be tried speedily as delays helped wrongdoers to find time prepare their defence.

Sojwe representative Ms Kamogelo Sephiri asked that the penal code and the constitution- should be harmonised to plug loopholes that crime suspects could exploit to escape punishment.

She also proposed that people facing multiple criminal charges should be disqualified from bail.

She said no person on bail for three different offences should be granted bail for any subsequent criminal charges.

On bogadi, she told the commission that men without adequate resources should be allowed to marry and be not charged the bride price.

She said provision should be made for such men to contract into marriage only through civil marriages regime where payment of bogadi was not a requirement.

Ms Kelebile Mabifi asked for the law to punish men who had children out of wedlock then abdicated the responsibility.

“A go sekisiwe borre bao, re ba senka thata gore ba tle go tsaa bana ba ba bone ba,” she said, adding that the men should then be compelled to assume custody of their children after having been fined for not having married the children’s mothers.

On the other hand, Mr Steven Tomeletso poured scorn on the idea of bogadi-free marriages.

He proposed instead that bogadi be standardised at 8 cows or P4 000 per cow in monetary value.

Mr Tomeletso noted that bogadi had never deterred any determined man from entering into marriage.

Reiterating the need for bogadi to be retained, Mr Raletsatsi Kabukabu instead proposed that the bride price be increased in acknowledgement of the role that wives played in keeping the family intact.

“No parent would want their child to be taken for free. A man who doesn’t pay bogadi is bound to take their wife for granted,” he argued. ENDS