Cape Town - Touching on the scourge of violence against women and children, with several cases making the headlines as the lockdown restrictions have been eased, President Cyril Ramaphosa said he was appalled.
The president addressed the country on the easing of lockdown regulations on Wednesday night, and he made a point to include femicide.
“It is with the heaviest of hearts that I stand before the women and girls of South Africa this evening to talk about another pandemic that is raging in our country – the killing of women and children by the men of our country.
“As a man, as a husband and as a father, I am appalled at what is no less than a war being waged against the women and children of our country.”
Ramaphosa specifically mentioned the case of eight-month pregnant Tshegofatse Pule, 28, who was found murdered and hanging from a tree last week, Altecia Kortje, 27, who was murdered along with her 7-year-old daughter in Belhar and the case of Mossel Bay woman Naledi Phangidawo, 26, who was stabbed and hacked to death by the father of two of her three children.
“I want to assure the women and children of South Africa that our criminal justice system will remain focused on gender-based violence cases and that we can expect more arrests and more prosecutions against perpetrators to follow. The perpetrators of violence against women and children must receive sentences that fit the horrific crimes they commit.
“It is deeply disturbing that the spike in crimes against women and children has coincided with the easing of the coronavirus lockdown.”
Western Cape Premier Alan Winde added that he stands behind President Ramaphosa's call to end gender based violence.
"As a society we all have a role to play in ending violence against women and children. The recent spate of violent attacks on women all have one thing in common: they have been perpetrated by men. So as men, we bear an even greater responsibility in ending gender based violence.
"We must never remain silent in the face of discrimination and violence. We must raise our boys to treat women as equals, instill in them the values of respect and give them the tools to resolve conflicts and to process their emotional responses without resorting to anger and violence," Winde said.
"We send our deepest condolences to those who are mourning the devastating loss of a daughter, mother, grandmother, friend of colleague right now."
The premier said he welcomes the fact that arrests have been made in many of these cases but research from around the world has shown that the biggest deterrent to crime is certainty of punishment.
"The responsibility now lies on those in our justice system to ensure that investigations are completed, evidence is preserved, dockets are completed and those who are guilty, are brought to book. These acts of violence should make us all feel anger, sadness and shame. But they must also make us question what each of us can do to make our country safer for women and force us to take action now," he said.
The premier added that a big contributor to violence in South Africa is the abuse of alcohol, and that the province has seen the increases in crime and in trauma associated with alcohol since it was unbanned at the beginning of this month.
"As a province, we are exploring legislative changes in order to reduce the harms associated with alcohol abuse as part of our safety plan but at the same time, we must all take personal responsibility, drink responsibly and reach out for assistance by calling our Department of Social Development hotline on 0800 220 250."
@TheCapeArgus