President Cyril Ramaphosa said despite the progress women have made since 1936, their struggles continue today.
Ramaphosa was speaking at an official event held at Silahla Sports Field, Richmond municipality, in KwaZulu-Natal.
“The women of South Africa today have attained a number of rights. Opportunities that their grandmothers and great-grandmothers were denied for years. The struggle of women in the country is not done yet, there is still a mighty struggle that needs to be engaged. We still need to uplift the women of our country to the level where they are equal to men,” said Ramaphosa.
Women’s Day is an annual commemoration of the August 9, 1956 Women’s March march to the Union Buildings by 20 000 women from all backgrounds who resisted the apartheid authorities’ imposition of pass laws that restricted the movement of black South Africans in the country of their birth.
Ramaphosa echoed the ANC 6th policy conference proposal that there must be gender equality laws. He said women should be treated the same way their male counterparts are.
He said gender-based violence (GBV) was a stain on the celebrations today.
Almost two weeks ago eight women were gang-raped while shooting a music video in Krugersdorp, west of Johannesburg.
“Hardly a day goes by in this country without a report of women being attacked, being violated, and being killed by men,” said Ramaphosa.
He said it was a problem of men with no respect for women, who feel they can do what they like with their girlfriends or partners because they buy them airtime or groceries.
He said this is a problem of men who lack the maturity to accept the end of a relationship and hunt down their ex-wives or ex-girlfriends; a problem of men who think culture, custom and religion empowers them to hit their wives, sisters, and daughters and to deprive them of their rights; a problem of men who hold positions of influence and authority, who prey on women and take advantage of them.
Ramaphosa said that in Richmond, like in many places around the country, sexual assaults and other violent crimes are connected to alcohol abuse, and many take place in or around places where alcohol is sold.
“Earlier this year we passed three important laws that will strengthen the fight against gender-based violence. These laws give greater protection to victims of domestic violence. The new laws empower the police to enter premises without a warrant and, if necessary, arrest a suspect,” he said.
He said new provisions expand the scope of the National Register of Sex Offenders and place a legal responsibility on all to report any sexual offences committed against vulnerable persons.
“There are now far stricter conditions under which a suspect may be granted bail. Perpetrators will get harsher sentences,” he said..
Ramaphosa said silence was no longer an option.
“Silence is the dark cloud under which men allow their friends to ill-treat women, children, and members of the LGBTQIA+ community as a display of their manliness. Silence is the cancer that eats away at women who protect their husbands, sons, partners and boyfriends who abuse them, their children, and other women because they are financially dependent,” Ramaphosa said.
He called on every South African to play their part in the fight against GBV and femicide by speaking out.
Ramaphosa said that in 2021, government introduced a 100-Day Challenge to pilot interventions to fast-track the provision of services to survivors of GBV. He said in the sites where the challenge has been implemented, sexual offences cases have been reduced by more than 42%, case backlogs reduced by 80%, and survivors of GBV are able to access legal and psycho-social support services more easily.
The EFF held its Women’s Day celebration at Matatiele in the Eastern Cape, where leader Julius Malema said there was nothing private about GBV and nothing private about rape.
“The EFF continues to be at the forefront in the fight against GBV because we believe that women should live freely without fear in a democratic society and that justice must prevail in instances where women are abused or even killed,” Malema said.
In May this year, former EFF secretary-general Godrich Gardee lost his daughter, Hillary, after she was raped, tortured and murdered in Nelspruit.
Good party leader Patricia de Lille said she believed women allowed what happened to them. She was speaking at the official launch of the party’s campaign against GBV and femicide, which coincided with Women's Day.
“We allow it to happen and from today we are saying shut up, speak up. I hear some things at the meetings and I hear women complain,” De Lille said.
The DA marched against GBV, saying the backlog of DNA samples, cases, murder and violent crimes cases was denying women justice.
“Those DNA samples are not just something sitting there, they are crucial evidence that will allow police to be able to convict people who committed crime,” said DA spokesperson Siviwe Gwarube.
“There are over 150 000 DNA samples stuck in the backlog, that means there are hundreds and thousands of people waiting for justice whose cases cannot be resolved because of this thing. Ramaphosa and Police Minister Bheki Cele should not sit back and allow for this to happen,” Gwarube said.
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