Ramaphosa: End culture of silence on gender-based violence

President Cyril Ramaphosa has called on South Africans to end the culture of silence around gender-based violence and report perpetrators to the South African Police Service (SAPS).

Gender-based violence is back under the microscope following the heinous killing of several women during the month of June.

On Friday, 12 June 2020, the body of a young woman was found dumped under a tree in Dobsonville, Soweto. The incident is days after 28 year-old Tshegofatso Pule was found stabbed and hanged from a tree in Roodepoort.

Pule, who was eight months pregnant at the time, was laid to rest on Thursday. Eerily, Pule’s uncle is the same man who defended Sandile Mantsoe, who was convicted for murdering Karabo Mokoena in 2017.

In a statement, Ramaphosa said it has been a dark and shameful week for the nation.

“Criminals have descended to even greater depths of cruelty and callousness. It simply cannot continue”

President Cyril Ramaphosa

The President said: “We note with disgust that at a time when the country is facing the gravest of threats from the pandemic, violent men are taking advantage of the eased restrictions on movement to attack women and children.”

“As we still struggle to come to terms with the brutality inflicted on Tshegofatso Pule, Naledi Phangindawo, Nompumelelo Tshaka and other women in the Eastern Cape  and Kwa-Zulu Natal whose bodies were found dumped this week, another woman has lost her life,” President Ramaphosa said.

The manner in which these defenceless women were killed points to an unconscionable level of barbarism and lack of humanity, the President added.

GBV is on the rise under lockdown

Authorities in KwaZulu-Natal say this week an elderly woman was raped and a child was found dead in a field, and two young women shot dead.

“According to the SAPS there has been an increase in violent crime, especially murders, since we entered alert level 3. We need to understand what factors are fuelling this terrible trend and, as society as a whole, address them urgently,” the President said.

Ministers to engage communities on gender-based violence

Ramaphosa has deployed Ministers and Deputy Ministers to meet with community leaders in all districts around the country as part of national efforts to combat COVID-19. During these visits they will be engaging with communities on this upsurge in gender based violence so that everyone can work together to prevent the killing of women.