Written by: Dr Pearl Kupe
Article source: Supplied

Recently a national call was made to the South African government to immediately declare Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF) a National Disaster. As part of the campaign, the nation was urged to embark on a national shutdown on Friday, November 21, ahead of the G20 summit. This shutdown campaign was accompanied by a petition that garnered close to one million signatures. A further call was made for people to speak out on social media and make their social media profiles purple as a sign of protest.

Government says no!
The government declined to declare GBVF a national disaster citing the definition of what constitutes a national disaster as a reason. They argued that the classification of GBVF as a national disaster does not align with the Disaster Management Act (DMA).

The Act defines a disaster as a “sudden or progressive, widespread or localized occurrence, natural or human-caused, that causes or threatens widespread death, injury, disease, damage to property or the environment, or disruption to community life.”

Government has now issued a letter inviting discussions on the matter.

GBVF has already been declared a national emergency!
The truth of the matter is, we can argue the issue of whether GBVF falls under this definition endlessly, but have we actually considered the following

  • In 2020, President Cyril Ramaphosa declared a national emergency due to the high levels of gender-based violence (GBV). An emergency response plan was launched with a R1.6 billion budget. A 10-year National Strategic Plan on Gender-based Violence and Femicide (NSP-GBVF) was approved and presented to Parliament in March 2020;
  • There is no point in “re-inventing the wheel” or “barking up the same tree”. GBVF has already been declared a national emergency and funds were allocated for its eradication. What needs to be done now is to call government to ACCOUNT?

The questions that must be put to the government now are:

  1. What has been done with the R1.6 billion to eradicate GBVF?
  2. Have any action plans have been put into place to eradicate GBVF and if yes, why are they not working?
  3. The Minister responsible in the Presidency and Minister of Women, Youth, and Persons with Disabilities and staff must urgently provide the nation with an account and update on what happened to ERAP initiative and on the way forward.

In all reality, the problem regarding GBVF has little to do with how GBVF has been defined or categorised. It has already been declared to be a national emergency by none other than the President of the nation more than five years ago. GBVF statistics have not only failed to decline, they have not been addressed and appear to even be escalating at an alarming rate.

Lack of Political will
The issue at hand is the lack of political will. Clearly there is no urgency or even desire to eradicate it.Where is the energy that government had when COVID was declared a national disaster?

Is it because GBVF predominately affects and impacts WOMEN and COVID was affecting all human beings, including males that we see no responses?

Or could it be that some of the perpetrators of GBVF are themselves, leaders in government and do not want attention given to this matter for fear of being exposed?

Or is it that certain cultural biases still exist that allow a society to believe that women deserve to be raped, murdered and molested?

Is it possible that there are still existing traditional cultures that are feeding into the narrative and mindset that fails to see women as human beings who are deserving of life.

#KeNako

#Masikhulume South Africa

South African Government, can we have some answers please!

Pearl Kupe-Attorney & International consultant to world leaders & International organizations. She is the International President-Global Forum for Women Entrepreneurs – www.gfwe.co.za. Personal website on www.Pearlkupe.co.za. She is the TBN Africa DSTV channel 343 Host on Ambassador of Change, Sundays at 13h00 and Wednesdays at 09h30 and 19h30(SAST)

You can follow Pearl on Facebook page Pearl Kgomotso Kupe

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Date published: 13/11/2025
Feature image: Image for illustrative purposes only. Artwork adapted from www.freepik.com

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