President Cyril Ramaphosa declares women’s deaths national crisis

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has declared the recent spate of killings of women a national crisis, pledging to deploy additional resources to combat gender-based violence and femicide.

The announcement follows the discovery of the bodies of 11 women in Ekurhuleni, east of Johannesburg, since July, a series of events that has sparked national outrage and renewed calls for urgent government intervention.

This cannot be accepted as a normal part of life in South Africa. We must confront an uncomfortable truth. What we have done has not been enough.

In a televised national address, President Ramaphosa ordered the police and the National Prosecuting Authority to conduct a comprehensive review of all unresolved cases involving murder, attempted murder, and rape within 90 days. He emphasized that these audits will be followed by fully funded plans to address identified crime hotspots and clear the existing backlogs in the justice system.

The President further called upon men to take a leading role in the fight against gender-based violence, noting that the majority of victims are attacked by individuals they know. According to recent data, South Africa continues to struggle with one of the highest female-homicide rates in the world, with hundreds of women murdered in the first half of the year alone.