President Cyril Ramaphosa and Minister in the Presidency responsible for women, youth, and persons with disabilities, Sindisiwe Chikunga, have once again committed themselves to ensuring that parties to the Government of National Unity (GNU) exert their influence in the fight against GBV while ensuring the rights of all are protected.
This comes after two recent incidents of alleged abuse of elder women made rounds on social media this past week.
The DA, through its MPs, Angel Khanyile and Ian Cameron, have pleaded with Police Minister Senzo Mchunu to prioritise the fight against the scourge following recent incidents.
Sindiwe Ngqaza, an 83-year-old, in a video circulating on social media, was seen being beaten allegedly by a man who apparently claimed she failed to provide him with meat to eat.
More than a week ago, a Ladysmith publication posted a video in which a 40-year-old-man appears to be assaulting his mother in Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal.
“The DA calls on victims to report instances of abuse to the police and for their communities to not let victims of abuse suffer in silence. Victims are often too afraid of retribution to report their abusers, while neighbours, family, and friends bear witness, but keep silent. We call on them to report abusers so that SAPS can intervene swiftly.
“One of the biggest obstacles to addressing this scourge, however, is the underfunded budget allocated to combating gender-based and family violence, severely hampering the prioritisation of these cases. These issues are compounded by a woefully understaffed police and detective service, leading to countless cases going unsolved and leaving innumerable victims without justice,“ Khanyile said.
During his address in Parliament this week, Ramaphosa said parties to the GNU are in agreement on the importance of entrenching the country’s constitutional democracy and the rule of law.
“We will continue to exert our every effort to safeguard the independence of the judiciary, freedom of the media and the work of the institutions supporting democracy. We continue to entrench gender equality across all facets of society, and in promoting the full participation in society of persons with disabilities.
“We have enacted into law the Gender-Based Violence And Femicide (GBVF) Council, which will oversee and coordinate GBVF programmes across government and in partnership with all stakeholders,” the president said.
In the meantime, the SABC also reported that gender-based violence against women and children continued to affect the community of Nqweba, formerly known as Kirkwood in the Eastern Cape.
Older people in the area of Moses Mabhida live in constant fear, following the brutal attack on 68 year-old, Nontsokolo Jacobs, allegedly by her neighbour last week.
Responding to the ongoing crisis, this week, Minister in the Presidency responsible for women, youth, and persons with disabilities, Sindisiwe Chikunga, has called on all South Africans to support the country’s ongoing efforts to combat gender-based violence and femicide (GBV-F), including incidents committed by intimate partners and family members.
The minister described the scourge of GBV-F as a national crisis saying: “There is an urgent need to invest adequate resources to respond to the GBV-F pandemic and all forms of discrimination by society and the government”.
“While our government has heeded this call and elevated the fight against GBV-F into one of its top priorities, we are the first to acknowledge that, in the past 30 years of democratic dispensation, the plight of women and girls in South Africa has remained deplorable and far from ideal.”
Saturday Star