Durban - Amidst the escalating cases of kidnapping of women, young and old, abuse and femicide President Cyril Ramaphosa has been slammed for his prolonged silence on the issue with the president trending on Twitter as celebrities also weighed in on his loud silence.
The country has been rocked by the cases of femicide rearing their ugly head again following the murders of University of Cape Town student Uyinene Mrwetyana and boxing and karate champion Leighandre ‘Baby Lee’ Jegels, but many on Twitter feel that the president has been missing.
The cases of femicide have seen various hashtags trending on Twitter including #MenAreTrash, #AmINextPROTEST #SAShutdown and #DearMrPresident where ordinary citizens to public figures vented their frustration and anger.
Although Ramaphosa issued a statement on Tuesday in which he said that this was a dark period for the country and that the assaults, rapes and murders of South African women were “a stain on our national conscience”, he was still vilified for not being bold enough and addressing the nation live.
Outspoken television and radio personality Anele Mdoda weighed in telling Ramaphosa: “#DearMrPresident as you continue to be silent. No woman is safe, no girl is safe. How we wish you could understand the after taste of your silence, the crude arrogance it displays, the cold-hearted man it portrays you to be and a hollow man who lacks empathy.”
DJ Zinhle tweeted: “#DearMrPresident, please say something” while Kiernan Forbes, the father of her four-year-old daughter Kairo, better known by his Hip Hop name AKA, tweeted: “As the father of a little girl, I’m terrified to raise my baby in this country”.
As the father of a little girl, Im terrified to raise my baby in this country. 💔
— AKA (@akaworldwide) September 3, 2019
Television host and musician Boity Thulo also expressed her disgust with several fiery tweets. “There is a war against us. Men are at war against women of this country. Wow.”
This tweet was followed by another more explosive one aimed at the South African government for their lack of intervention and decisiveness in dealing with the prevalent chilling cases of femicide in South African.
Also tagging the Presidency’s twitter account @PresidencyZA, Thulo tweeted: “All you @GovernmentZA don’t give a f***k about the women of the country. Nothing! We are dying daily and it continues because men have been shown and know very well that our government supports and protects rapists, abusers and murderers!”
Actor and comedian Siv Ngesi also weighed on the issue with numerous tweets expressing his disgust. He tweeted: “President @CyrilRamaphosa, your silence is deafening!” and “If this was before the elections, you would have spoken by now President @CyrilRamaphosa.”
%%%twitter https://twitter.com/CyrilRamaphosa?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CyrilRamaphosa, your silence is deafening! #SAShutdown
— Siv Ngesi (@iamSivN)
%%%twitter https://twitter.com/CyrilRamaphosa?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CyrilRamaphosa #SAShutdown
— Siv Ngesi (@iamSivN)