![\"Cyril](\"https:\/\/img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net\/tenant\/amp\/entityid\/AAHrIz3.img?h=400&w=799&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f&x=1353&y=492\")
Cyril Ramaphosa\u2019s response to gender-based violence could be one of the defining issues of his presidency. He\u2019s talked the talk, now he must act. On Wednesday in Parliament, he has that opportunity.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Addressing the media in Parliament on Tuesday 17 September, DA chief whip John Steenhuisen outlined nine proposals the opposition would implement to reduce gender-based violence (GBV) and femicide, which has been raging for years and has recently led to unprecedented outrage and protests under the banners of #TotalShutdown and #AmINext. DA MP Nazley Sharif, who has been outspoken on the need for drastic action, said her party\u2019s proposals were \u201ca very good start\u201d but could continue to improve. She was adamant, however, they would be more effective than President Cyril Ramaphosa\u2019s plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ramaphosa has already taken violence against women far more seriously than his predecessor Jacob Zuma, in speech at least. He listened to survivors at the National Summit against Gender-Based Violence and Femicide and committed to taking action during his February State of the Nation Address (Sona). He signed a declaration against GBV and recently addressed the nation on the issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But Ramaphosa has been reactive rather than proactive and is yet to introduce the policies or allocate the budget to match his empathy. He could have that opportunity at a joint sitting of the National Assembly and National Council of Provinces on Wednesday 17 September, which the president called to discuss GBV and femicide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis is a national crisis,\u201d said Ramaphosa at a dialogue with women in Lusikisiki, Eastern Cape, on Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIn the end, violence against women is not and is never the fault of women. It is the men who rape. It is the men who kill women and there is therefore an obligation for the men of this country to speak out against violence, against harassment and against abuse,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ramaphosa has also called for the state to oppose bail in all sexual offences cases and for the national register of GBV offenders to be reformed and possibly made public. He has said the state will review closed cases, strengthen emergency response teams, ensure DNA testing and rape kits are available, and find additional funding to support the anti-GBV fight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He has called for proper training and equipment for the police and said society must confront any of its values that uphold patriarchy and prevent gender equality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The president told his Lusikisiki audience that more initiatives would be announced during the parliamentary discussion, in addition to those he mentioned during his national address<\/a> almost two weeks ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The president has made GBV a priority and cancelled his visit to the upcoming United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York to focus on addressing the onslaught against women and public violence. But it will take more than broad commitments to convince a traumatised public that anything will change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n During his February Sona address, Ramaphosa committed to funding the fight against GBV, but activists saw no change<\/a> when the national Budget was released. Government has drafted a national plan<\/a> on combating GBV and public comments close today, but the president has almost reached his deadline to appoint a national GBV council in six months after he signed the declaration at the national summit in March.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnybody who rapes a woman basically destroys her life,\u201d he said on Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIn my view and in my book if you have raped and if you have killed a woman you should be put away for life and life must mean life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ramaphosa, however, has only spoken of criminal justice reforms in broad strokes. His ANC deputy secretary-general, Jessie Duarte, didn\u2019t add any more specifics this week when she told SABC there needs to be a \u201charsher perspective\u201d on fighting patriarchy in South Africa and admitted police aren\u2019t properly trained to handle rape cases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When Duarte was asked about the ANC\u2019s failure to improve the situation while in government, she fell back on the principle of the separation of party and state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The DA\u2019s Steenhuisen on Tuesday said:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe tragic reality is that unless swift and decisive action is taken, history will keep on repeating itself, leaving many more women to join the list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe country needs urgent, clear and decisive action that goes further than jailing perpetrators and that addresses the root causes of the social and moral collapse.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The DA proposed changing terms in legislation from \u201cdomestic violence\u201d to \u201cdomestic abuse\u201d to incorporate crimes that don\u2019t involve physical violence, drafting a defined process for court interdicts against abuse, ensuring protection orders are enforced and followed up by searches for weapons, and creating specific offences for authorities who fail to assist victims of domestic abuse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Writing to Parliament on 12 September, Ramaphosa said, \u201cIn the last two weeks South Africa\u2019s approach to violence perpetrated against women has changed fundamentally.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Little, however, is yet to change, but Ramaphosa has the chance to start trying to turn the tide against what is a brutally complex South African problem. DM<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by \u00a0Greg Nicolson Greg Nicolson 1 day agoChilling evidence of hostel murderDUT students go on rampage Cyril Ramaphosa\u2019s response to gender-based violence could be one of the defining issues of his presidency. He\u2019s talked the talk, now he must act. On Wednesday in Parliament, he has that opportunity. Addressing the media in Parliament on Tuesday 17 […]\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3322,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"tpgb_global_settings":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3321","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"tpgb_featured_images":{"full":["https:\/\/site.hopetoheal.org.za\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/AAHrIz3.jpg",799,400,false],"tp-image-grid":["https:\/\/site.hopetoheal.org.za\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/AAHrIz3.jpg",700,350,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/site.hopetoheal.org.za\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/AAHrIz3-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/site.hopetoheal.org.za\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/AAHrIz3-300x150.jpg",300,150,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/site.hopetoheal.org.za\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/AAHrIz3-768x384.jpg",768,384,true],"large":["https:\/\/site.hopetoheal.org.za\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/AAHrIz3.jpg",799,400,false],"default":"https:\/\/site.hopetoheal.org.za\/staging\/wp-content\/plugins\/the-plus-addons-for-block-editor\/assets\/images\/tpgb-placeholder.jpg"},"tpgb_post_meta_info":{"get_date":"September 19, 2019","get_modified_date":"September 19, 2019","category_list":{"category":[{"term_id":19,"name":"News","slug":"news","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":19,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":238,"filter":"raw"}],"post_tag":false,"post_format":false},"author_name":"Hope To Heal","author_url":"https:\/\/site.hopetoheal.org.za\/staging\/author\/hope2233\/","author_email":"webmaster@hopetoheal.org.za","author_website":"","author_description":"Our mission is for women and children to live free from violence and abuse and to provide quality, compassionate, and nonjudgmental services in a manner that fosters self-respect and independence in persons experiencing domestic violence and child abuse and to lead the struggle to end domestic violence through advocacy and community education.","author_facebook":"","author_twitter":"","author_instagram":"","author_role":["administrator"],"author_firstname":"Hope To","author_lastname":"Heal Foundation","user_login":"Hope2233","author_avatar":"
<\/p>\n\n\n\n