Inside Politics Reporter
In his State of the Nation Address (Sona) in Parliament on Thursday evening President Cyril Ramaphosa spoke about plans to curb the scourge of Gender-Based Violence saying the government together with civil society, has developed the National Strategic Plan on Gender-based Violence, together with civil society, as a society wide response to this pandemic.
Ramaphosa said around R21 billion was dedicated over the medium term to the implementation of the six pillars of the plan, including the economic empowerment of women.
New laws were introduced to strengthen the response of the criminal justice system to gender-based violence and provide better support to survivors of such violence, he said.
“Our ultimate goal is to end gender-based violence altogether by mobilising all of society. As part of this, we support the call for a pledge that men in South Africa are invited to take to demonstrate their personal commitment to ending this scourge,” Ramaphosa said, adding that this pledge was developed by a school.and that he would like men in South Africa to also emulate what the pupils had done.
“Women are also in the process of developing their own pledge. We still have a long way to go to build safer communities, prevent violent crime, and protect our infrastructure.
“But there is no doubt that a professional, well-trained and properly resourced police force, working closely with communities, will make our country a safer place.
In outlining the progress of the last five-years Ramaphosa said the government has worked with its social partners to address challenges such as to keep people safe and to distribute vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic, and to mobilise a society-wide response to gender-based violence.
“We have protected and advanced the rights of members of the LGBTQI community, and continue to combat all forms of prejudice and intolerance.
“We have made significant progress on measures to grow the economy, create jobs and reduce poverty. While we have set in motion the process of renewal and reform, there is more work to be done to see these reforms through to the end.
“We will see through the work underway with our partners to end load-shedding and revive the performance of our ports and rail network.
“We will continue to strengthen our law enforcement institutions, tackle gender-based violence and fight corruption to make South Africa a safe place for all.
“We will continue to strengthen local government, professionalise the public service and ensure that public officials are held accountable for their actions.
“We will continue to position our economy to grow and compete in a fast-changing world, to support small businesses, to give young people economic opportunities and to provide social protection to the vulnerable.
“We will continue the work to improve the country’s fiscal position and hold firm to a sound macroeconomic trajectory”.
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