Johannesburg - The number of people serving life sentences for violence against women and children has increased dramatically since 2010, President Jacob Zuma said on Tuesday.
A total of 1832 perpetrators were currently serving life sentences, he said at the launch of the 16 days of activism for no violence against women and children, held in Reiger Park, Johannesburg.
“Today we want to send a clear message to the public. Abusers, murderers, rapists, have no place in our society.”
The government intended to reduce the secondary trauma often suffered by victims of violence, he said.
An effort was being made to speed up the court process for these cases.
“We believe we are making progress as government in the fight against this scourge.”
He admitted, however, that much more needed to be done and that communities needed to unite to make the theme of the campaign “count me in” come alive.
After Zuma's address, he, along with other officials, campaign ambassadors, and members of the public signed the pledge for no violence against women and children.
Afterwards, the gathering was informed that Zuma had gone to meet the three Reiger Park families who had lost their children to violent crime in the past year.
The 16 days campaign is held once a year to help prevent violence against women and children.
Recently three-year-old Cuburne Lavone van Wyk went missing, and his burnt body was found at a mine dump in Ramaphosa, Reiger Park.
A man was arrested and is due in court again in December.
The body of ten-year-old Siphamandla Madikane, from the Ramaphosa settlement, was found by a passer-by also at a mine dump in November last year.
Four-year-old Taegrin Morris from Delmore Gardens, near Reiger Park, died after his parents' car was hijacked.
He got stuck in the seatbelt and was dragged along the road and later found dead.
Earlier in November, the Boksburg Magistrate's Court withdrew all charges against Thamsanqa Twala, who had been accused of involvement in the death of the child, infuriating the community.
On Monday Gauteng premier David Makhura and a team of representatives of various departments met residents to discuss ways of dealing with the problems they faced.
Sapa