WARNING: This is Version 1 of my old archive, so Photos will NOT work and many links will NOT work. But you can find articles by searching on the Titles. There is a lot of information in this archive. Use the SEARCH BAR at the top right. Prior to December 2012; I was a pro-Christian type of Conservative. I was unaware of the mass of Jewish lies in history, especially the lies regarding WW2 and Hitler. So in here you will find pro-Jewish and pro-Israel material. I was definitely WRONG about the Boeremag and Janusz Walus. They were for real.
Original Post Date: 2004-02-24 Posted By: Jan
From the News Archives of: WWW.AfricanCrisis.Org
Date & Time Posted: 2/24/2004 6:22:40 AM
S.Africa: Ambulance staff outraged by condom plan
Paramedics in KwaZulu-Natal, still reeling over a spate of recent hijackings, were outraged on Monday over an internal memorandum urging female crew members to wear condoms while on duty at night.
The note from the emergency medical rescue services for the eThekwini district, a copy of which is in The Mercury’s possession, comes after the hijacking horror in which two paramedics were forced to have sex with each other. The female paramedic was later allegedly raped by one of the suspects.
The memorandum for workers states that any crew needing an escort should phone 10111; they should put their cellphones on silent mode and keep them where they are not visible; and paramedics, especially women on the night shift, should wear condoms which would be issued to them.
‘You don’t expect to get raped or hijacked when you go out on duty’
Paramedics and women’s rights groups were furious about the memo, saying it made female crew more vulnerable.
Paramedic Zainub Aboobaker said: “This is ridiculous and puts our lives at risk. It is offensive to tell someone to wear a condom, because you don’t expect to get raped or hijacked when you go out on duty.”
A member of the emergency medical rescue services, who did not want to be named, said women staff were disgusted. Their husbands were angered that they should have to wear condoms.
“Management is violating people’s rights by asking them to carry condoms. Instead of fixing things, they are causing more harm,” he said.
The founder and Director of the Open Door Crisis Centre, Thora Mansfield, said that carrying condoms was not the answer as there was usually no time for the rapist to put one on.
‘Instead of fixing things, they are causing more harm’
“Rape is not a sexual act but a violent act. Carrying a condom is not going to help,” she said.
“The government and the department should think about protecting their staff rather than asking them to carry (or wear) a condom.”
The KwaZulu-Natal Co-ordinator for the Network on Violence against Women, Cookie Edwards, said the department should put stricter measures in place to protect their staff.
“We are going 10 steps backwards in protecting women,” said Edwards.
KwaZulu-Natal department of health spokesperson Lindiwe Khuzwayo said: “This was not a directive or a policy from the department. Condoms are available to whoever feels they need them.”
A march organised by the management in the KwaZulu-Natal department over the hijackings and rape will be held in Durban on Thursday.
Meanwhile, sirens and hooters blared in Pietermaritzburg on Monday as emergency services staff again voiced their anger about last week’s attack, while four suspects held in connection with the incident appeared briefly before a Pietermaritzburg magistrate.
The protest by provincial and private emergency services members culminated with the arrival of the wreck of the ambulance stolen by the attackers and subsequently found gutted in the Taylor’s Halt area.
Protesters carrying placards bearing messages such as “Community Come to our Rescue”, “Castrate Rapists”, “People’s Lives Depend on Us”, “Bring Back the Death Penalty” and “Stop the Hijackings and Abuse” jumped on to the lorry carrying the ambulance, using it as a platform to voice their message.
Meanwhile, Siphesihle Khumalo, 23, Mbusiswa Dominec Zondi, 21, Thamsanqa Buthelezi, 22, and Xolani Makhoba, 21, were not asked to plead to charges and were remanded in custody until March 2.
It appears uncertain, according to the charge sheet, whether the female paramedic was raped or indecently assaulted. The current charges are robbery, abduction, possession of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition and indecent assault.
SAPS spokesperson Joshua Gwala confirmed that further investigations were being carried out to establish the exact details of the attack. Police initially reported that the woman’s colleague had been forced to have sex with her at gunpoint and that she was also raped by one of the assailants.
This article was originally published on page 1 of The Mercury on February 24, 2004
By Ingrid Oellermann and Sithembile Shabangu
Source: IOL
URL: http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=13&ar…br>