Cape Town - The Cabinet has reaffirmed its commitment to fight the scourge of gender-based violence and femicide as police try to clamp down on those behind the killing of women and children.
Minister in the Presidency Jackson Mthembu said on Thursday they want law enforcement agencies and communities to be involved in the fight.
The call by Cabinet comes as Parliament is busy with three GBV Bills, which were tabled by Justice Minister Ronald Lamola recently.
The national legislature has said it wanted to finalise these laws by the end of the year.
The bills would tighten bail for those arrested for GBV cases and also deal with the issuing of protection orders.
Mthembu said GBV was still at the centre of the government plans to ensure it was dealt with.
"The scourge of GBVF and the abuse of children, which president Ramaphosa has denounced as the second pandemic after Covid-19, remains a plague on our communities and we must do our best to eradicate it. The Bill of Rights enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa of 1996 specifically states that every child has the right to be protected from maltreatment, neglect, abuse or degradation," said Mthembu.
He said communities must work with law enforcement agencies to deal with these cases of gender-based violence and femicide.
Mthembu also said the Cabinet supports president Cyril Ramaphosa's economic recovery, which was announced in Parliament last week.
Ramaphosa returned to Parliament on Wednesday to take part in the debate on the plan.
He said the plan was agreed to by all social partners at Nedlac and it has various elements that would revive the economy.
These are the elements that ramp up growth and create jobs. The economy has already shed millions of jobs with more people at risk to lose their jobs. This was due to companies in financial difficulty.
Political Bureau