President Cyril Ramaphosa says the Domestic Violence Act is expected to be amended to protect victims in violent domestic relationships better.
South Africa (16 February 2020) – Delivering the State of the Nation Address (SONA) before a joint sitting of the two houses of Parliament on Thursday, President Ramaphosa further said the Sexual Offences Act will also broaden the categories of sex offenders whose names must be included in the National Register for Sex Offenders.
“We will pass a law to tighten bail and sentencing conditions in cases that involve gender-based violence (GBV),” President Ramaphosa said.
President Ramaphosa noted that over the last six months, the nation had been galvanised across communities, government, civil society, religious groupings, the judiciary and parliament, to end the crisis of violence perpetrated by men against women.
“It has been a truly united and determined response from all South Africans. Through building social compacts across society to fight this scourge, we will be able to achieve much more… but it is only the beginning of the struggle,” he said.
He said that progress has been made in several areas, including the implementation of an Emergency Action Plan to deal with the scourge of GBV.
“We implemented an Emergency Action Plan and reprioritised R1.6 billion to support this plan until the end of the current financial year,” the President said.
The plan focuses on improving access to justice for survivors of violence and prevention campaigns to change attitudes and behaviour.
The plan also involves measures to strengthen the criminal justice process and to prioritise the creation of economic opportunities for women who are vulnerable to abuse.
Recently, the presidency also appointed Miss Universe – Zozibini Tunzi – as the ambassador against gender-based violence (GBV) in South Africa.
Zozi has been using her voice to speak out against femicide and GBV for some time, but the endorsement from the president is everything! The public learned of the appointment via Arts and Culture deputy minister Nocawe Mafu during Zozi’s homecoming celebrations.
Deputy minister Mafu discussed the response President Cyril Ramaphosa gave when asked how he planned to combat GBV in Africa.
“He said: ‘I can do it because already I have an ambassador in SA. Her name is Zozibini Tunzi. She has already committed to this challenge, so I can take it, as president and as the government of South Africa, that she will be championing it on behalf of the government,” – Nocawe Mafu, Deputy Minister of Arts and Culture.
President Cyril Ramaphosa addressed crowds in Cape Town, promising to work on protecting women and children in South Africa.
The South African government then released a breakdown of how the president plans to combat gender-based violence. The full breakdown was reported by us in September 2019, which you can read here, but below is a brief outline.
The focus is on:
- Creating an understanding that violence against women is a man’s problem.
- The creation of a National Register of Offenders.
- Harsher minimum sentences for offenders.
- The boosting of emergency response teams for GBV cases.
- Additional funding for the GBV campaign.
by 