Staff Reporter
President Cyril Ramaphosa will on Tuesday meet senior leaders within the South African Police Service to get a briefing on steps being undertaken to stem the tide of gender based violence in the country, his office said in statement.
This followed the brutal murders of University of Cape Town Student Uyinene Mrwetyana and SA boxing champion Leighandre Jegels.
“This is a very dark period for us as a country. The assaults, rapes and murders of South African women are a stain on our national conscience. We have just commemorated Women’s Month. Sixty three years after the women of 1956 marched for the right to live in freedom, women in this country live in fear – not of the apartheid police but of their brothers, sons, fathers and uncles. We should all hang our heads in shame,” said Ramaphosa.
I condemn the violence that has been spreading around a number of our provinces in the strongest terms. I’m convening the ministers in the security cluster today to make sure that we keep a close eye on these acts of wanton violence and find ways of stopping them. pic.twitter.com/sizZkwIyPO
— Cyril Ramaphosa ?? (@CyrilRamaphosa) September 3, 2019
He commended the country’s law enforcement authorities for their action which led to the arrests of two suspects linked to the brutal murders of Mrwetyana and Jegels.
Mrwetyana’s alleged killer was arrested and charged with rape, murder and defeating the ends of justice. The man suspected of killing Jegels was also arrested and has since died in hospital.
Deputy President David Mabuza, in his capacity as the Patron of the Moral Regeneration Movement, has joined President Cyril Ramaphosa in condemning the murder and alleged rape of 19 year-old Mrwetyana.
“Words are simply inadequate to describe the pain and horror the Mrwetyana family and friends have been through in the past week since their daughter was reported missing.
While we commend the Police for the swift apprehension of the alleged perpetrator and urge the law enforcement and our courts to deliver justice for the young student, we wish to reiterate our strong conviction of a terrible breakdown of the moral fibre of our society where such violence and ultimately the murder of women continues unabated Mabuza said.
He said it was unfortunate that the alleged perpetrator was a public servant. “We further note with alacrity that the alleged perpetrator is one of our public servants, an employee entrusted with a position of service and duty to society.
We believe that something drastic and immediate must be done in our communities that breed such wanton criminality and cruel behaviour, which must be taken up by community leaders, together with Government, to return the moral fibre to our society,” said Mabuza.
