Cyril Ramaphosa Calls Family Meeting to Address Ekurhuleni Murders

President Cyril Ramaphosa said Tuesday he had ordered a clean-up of high-risk municipal areas and a crackdown on alcohol abuse to protect women after a series of murders has sparked a national outcry.

The discovery of the bodies of 11 women dumped in Ekurhuleni, east of Johannesburg, since mid-July has reignited alarm over persistently high levels of gender-based violence.

The nation is angry. The women of South Africa are angry. Their anger is justified. I share that anger.

Ramaphosa said in a national address.

He said a multidisciplinary, national-level emergency response was in place to investigate the Ekurhuleni murders, for which four people were in police custody.

There has understandably been widespread fear that the discovery of these women in close proximity could indicate the work of a single perpetrator.

Ramaphosa said.

We must confront an uncomfortable truth. What we have done has not been enough. We need to do much more.

he said.

Every municipality must begin a women’s safety audit without delay. High-risk areas must be identified and addressed.

he said.

Police and prosecutors had been instructed to reopen unresolved cases involving women and children and to fast-track existing cases, prioritising gender-based violence and femicide.