President Cyril Ramaphosa has reflected on the progress made in fighting gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF) and has taken accountability for government’s slow response to fight the scourge.

Ramaphosa spoke at the presidential summit on GBVF this week and reflected on the progress made since the 2018 summit.

Accountability for slow progress in the national strategic plan

He said the presidency and cabinet should account for the slow progress in the plan.

“It is not women who are responsible for ending such crimes, it is men. As a society  ending violence against women and children cannot be anything but our foremost priority. This is about the lives of our country’s women and children. There can be no greater urgency.

“That is why all of us who are attending this summit must be focused on action and results. We need to be critical about those areas of the national strategic plan in which there has been little or no progress. We need practical plans to correct shortcomings and weaknesses,” he said.

Collaborative approaches

Ramaphosa said collaborative approaches are needed to curb the scourge.

“We need to plan together, implement together and account together. We owe this to the women and children of South Africa. We owe it to all who have been victims of this scourge, including families and loved ones. We owe it to the people of this country.”

Establishing a national GBVF council

The president said government will move quickly to establish a national council of GBVF, adding a bill that will pave the way for its establishment is before parliament.

“Piloting this act through processes, including taking it to the National Economic Development and Labour Council, has taken far too long because the council could not be fully set up without the legislative instrument. Now that it is going through parliament, we will make sure we move quicker. We have the council set up and the full machinery set up.”