President Cyril Ramaphosa has used his weekly newsletter to bemoan the country’s persistently high levels of violence against women and children, warning that gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF) now amounts to a national disaster requiring exceptional measures.
As South Africa marks the annual 16 Days of Activism campaign, the President’s newsletter underscores the scale of the crisis and outlines government’s intensified response after officially declaring GBVF a national disaster last month.
“As South Africa and the world observes 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence from 25 November to 10 December, it is a shame that our country has the dubious distinction of having one of the world’s highest levels of violence against women and girls,” the President said.
According to data from the HSRC’s National GBV Study (2022), more than 35% of women over 18 have experienced physical or sexual violence in their lifetime, with most cases committed by intimate partners. The report, he said, provides the baseline needed to drive the country’s long-term response to GBVF through the National Strategic Plan adopted after the 2018 Presidential Summit.
Reflecting on the long-term effects of gender-based violence, President Ramaphosa said the impact is “arguably even more corrosive” than the devastation caused by COVID-19.
“Gender-based violence destroys families, has an economic cost, causes instability and fear for women and girls, and reproduces inter-generational trauma,” he wrote.
He said classifying GBVF as a national disaster strengthens the mandates of key departments, including Police, Justice, Social Development, Health and Basic Education, to scale up survivor support, expand shelters and safe spaces, and fast-track emergency resource allocation.
All organs of state are now required to submit progress reports to the National Disaster Management Centre.
The President highlighted recent briefings to Parliament’s Multiparty Women’s Caucus, where the SAPS and the Department of Justice reported steps taken to improve case management and strengthen the criminal justice system’s response to GBVF.
These include:
- Expansion of victim-friendly facilities and specialised GBV desks at police stations
- Establishment of a GBVF Information Centre at SAPS Academy Pretoria
- Faster evidence processing and improved collaboration between SAPS and the NPA
- A new 24-hour service for obtaining protection orders
- Progress on anti-GBV legislation signed into law in 2022, including stronger sexual offences registers and more specialised courts
Despite this, President Ramaphosa acknowledged that implementation of the National Strategic Plan has been “uneven”, saying the disaster classification would help speed up funding flows for survivor services and improve access to justice.
Men are central to the solution
President Ramaphosa again emphasised that men must play a leading role in prevention efforts, echoing remarks he made during the Men’s Indaba in the Free State last week.
“Unless we directly engage men, we will continue to have marches, hold protests and conduct social media campaigns, but the statistics will not change. Even as men are the main perpetrators of GBVF, they are also part of the solution,” he said.
The President called for a nationwide, sustained programme of dialogues with men and boys to confront the drivers of violence including toxic masculinity, harmful cultural norms, peer pressure and socialisation.
President Ramaphosa further stressed that combating GBVF requires a whole-of-society response.
“A national disaster demands national responsibility. Whether as communities, civil society, government, faith leaders, business, unions or citizens, we must all play our part,” he said.
He urged South Africans to report abuse rather than “look away”, and to actively dismantle the attitudes that enable violence.
“The safety and security of women and children is everybody’s business. Let us continue to work together to realise a society free from gender-based violence and femicide,” President Ramaphosa said. – SAnews.gov.za
