By Akani Nkuna
President Cyril Ramaphosa has said that the brutal killing and abuse of South African women was not a reflection of the country’s heritage and culture, adding he was ashamed reported incidents of women being murdered by men while emphasising that women have a right to live in a free and safe society.
Speaking at the National Heritage Day celebrations at Oudtshoorn, Western Cape, on Thursday, where thousands of community members including government officials had gathered, Ramaphosa urged the country to ensure that women enjoy a safe society as part of their heritage.
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“The abuse, the rape and the killing of our women is not our Heritage. Our forebears did not abuse, rape and kill the women of this country. Our forebears were against the killing and the raping of the women of South Africa. There is no culture worthy of the name that distinguishes the dignity of women,” he said.
“The pain and suffering that the women of South Africa have been put through stands out as a national shame. I am ashamed of what men are doing to the women of South Africa. The women of South Africa have the right to walk the streets of their country at any hour, any minute, without any fear.”
This comes as the country is reeling from shock after 9 dead bodies were discovered dumped at various areas in Ekurhuleni, Gauteng, in the past week or two. This has prompted women activists, NGOs, community leaders and ministers to raise concerns about women’s safety in the area and the country generally.
Earlier this week on Monday, 2 women and one man were arrested in connection to murder of one of the women found ditched in Ekurhuleni and briefly appeared at the Boksburg Magistrate’s Court.
Developments on the other cases remain elusive as investigations are ongoing.
Ramaphosa said, in a few days’ time, he will address the nation in relation to the steps that government is embarking on to confront the scourge of Gender-based violence and Femicide (GBVF) and also provide an update on the investigation into the killings of women in Ekurhuleni.
The president proceeded to make a declaration during his keynote address, stating that “violence against women will not be part of the inheritance we leave to the next generation of South Africans. Enough is enough; we must bring GBV to an end as South Africans.”
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Ramaphosa also reminded the people joining him to celebrate the Heritage Day to acknowledge the acts of solidarity shown towards SA during the time of apartheid, which eventually pressurised that regime to collapse, citing the solidarity of numerous African States and its people.
“We must never forget that they were bombed, killed, imprisoned, all because they were pledging solidarity with us. We must never forget that millions of ordinary people who refused to accept that injustice were dealt with very badly,” Ramaphosa said.
Ramaphosa highlighted that the country’s inherited freedoms are unequally lived within the population, outlining how children born and living in poverty do not experience the same freedom as those born privileged in wealth.
“This freedom is unequally lived by a young person with access to education, to technology and opportunity and another young person whose circumstances deny them those opportunities. And it is profoundly unequally by a man who can walk the streets without fear and a women who must constantly consider whether she will be safe,” said Ramaphosa.
He said that if the country wanted to strengthen the ties binding its people together, there ought to be measures to reduce the inequality gap across all spheres of government, community and society.
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