President Cyril Ramaphosa's latest measures to tackle gender-based violence and femicide have triggered a harder question from civil society and political parties: what will be different this time? Ramaphosa's announcement of municipal safety audits, including fixing broken streetlights, clearing overgrown public spaces, and addressing other hazards, has drawn particular criticism from organisations working with victims.
Critics argue that basic failures that leave women vulnerable cannot keep being repackaged as new interventions. Amnesty International South Africa Executive Director Shenilla Mohamed said the four measures announced by Ramaphosa came seven years after women took to the streets demanding action on the crisis. Mohamed emphasised that timelines would only carry weight if they resulted in action and consequences for failure.
Amnesty International also called for femicide to be codified as a crime, arguing that the country cannot properly confront a crisis it does not adequately track. Mohamed stated that the audits ordered by the president must be made public and municipalities held responsible for unsafe public spaces. This, she believes, will ensure that municipalities do not ignore their obligations to make public spaces safer for women.
Kwanele Foundation Founder Sihle Sibisi questioned why the government continued holding high-level meetings while organisations working on the ground struggled for resources. Sibisi called for greater support for civil society groups already assisting communities. She also criticised the emphasis on municipal maintenance, saying it did not amount to a new response to the crisis.
The International Women’s Forum South Africa, GBVF Response Fund, and Graça Machel Trust welcomed the president's address but emphasised that the announcements could not be treated as the end of the response. They stressed that the measures would have to be backed by capacity, resources, and accountability, with sustainable funding across prevention, policing, forensic services, justice, survivor support, and community organisations.
Opposition parties also questioned the effectiveness of Ramaphosa's measures. African Transformation Movement leader Vuyo Zungula pointed to about R21 billion previously announced over three years for various components of the National Strategic Plan on GBVF. He demanded that the government account for money already allocated before asking South Africans to accept another set of promises.
DA leader Geordin Hill-Lewis challenged the gap between government announcements and what women experience in their communities. He emphasised that the focus should be on detection, arrests, and successful prosecutions, while calling for stronger municipal law-enforcement capacity and greater visibility in crime hotspots. Ramaphosa had acknowledged that the government's response had not been enough to prevent women from being killed.
Key points
- President Cyril Ramaphosa's latest measures to tackle GBVF have drawn mixed reactions from civil society and political parties.
- Critics argue that basic failures that leave women vulnerable cannot keep being repackaged as new interventions.
- Opposition parties have questioned the effectiveness of Ramaphosa's measures, demanding accountability and concrete action.
