Pretoria - Gauteng Premier Nomvula Mokonyane has called for the arrest of the men who apparently harassed two young women near the Noord Taxi Rank in Johannesburg last week.
The young women were verbally abused by men allegedly because of their clothing.
In a statement issued by the Gauteng Provincial Government, Mokonyane condemned the incident.
"We condemn in the strongest possible terms the animal-like behaviour of those men involved, some old enough to be the young women's fathers - where some males went as far as groping the young women," she said.
"We are comforted by the fact that the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department intervened to protect the two young ladies. This is reminiscent of the incident four years ago at the same taxi rank," she said.
She added that the incident showed that women still face serious challenges of discrimination and gender-based violence.
Mokonyane said while the taxi rank had been upgraded to become a place where commuters would feel safe and secured - the incident demonstrated that the taxi rank was becoming notorious for "behaviour that goes against the moral fibre of the society we are trying to build".
According to the statement, the provincial government has been in touch with the two young women and encouraged them to open a case so that the video footage is subjected to criminal investigation.
Any person who might have witnessed the incident, or with more information that can help police in their investigations, can get in touch with their nearest police station or call Crime Stop on 08600 10111.
