PRESIDENT RAMAPHOSA ANNOUNCES URGENT MEASURES TO FIGHT GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE AND FEMICIDE.

By Staff reporter

• President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced four immediate measures to strengthen the national response to gender-based violence and femicide, each with strict deadlines and quarterly public progress reports.
• The address follows the discovery of 11 women’s bodies in Ekurhuleni since July, prompting a national-level investigation in which arrests have already been made in three cases.
• The President has called on men and boys to take responsibility for ending violence against women, noting that most women murdered in South Africa are killed by an intimate partner.

President Cyril Ramaphosa has acknowledged that the country’s efforts to end gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF) have not been enough. He announced four immediate measures to hold government accountable and better protect women and children.

Addressing the nation on 29 September 2026, the President spoke after another woman’s body was found in Springs on Sunday. This brings to 11 the number of women’s bodies found in Ekurhuleni since July. He also mourned women and girls killed elsewhere in the country in recent weeks. They include ten-year-old Octavia Swarts from Kraaifontein, 15-year-old Amogelang Motshwaedi from Dinokana village, and Amanda Kosani from Port Alfred, who was killed on Women’s Day.

An emergency response approved by the Inter-Ministerial Committee on GBVF has seen the Ekurhuleni investigation elevated to national level, where it is now coordinated by the Deputy National Commissioner for Detective Services. The multidisciplinary team includes detectives, Crime Intelligence, forensic specialists, investigative psychologists and digital investigators, with the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) assisting in the digital forensic work.

Arrests have been made in connection with the killings of Ntombifuthi Nxumalo, Jabulile Ntimba and Busisiwe Mahlangu. In the other cases, police have identified persons of interest and collected forensic material. Police have not found evidence that a single perpetrator committed the killings, but all possibilities remain under investigation.

Only two of the women found dead in Ekurhuleni had been reported missing. The President reminded the public that there is no need to wait 24 hours before reporting a person missing. Anyone who fears that something is wrong should report it immediately.

The first of the four measures is a national case-recovery operation. It will focus on unresolved murders, attempted murders, rapes and serious sexual offences involving women and children. An audit of these cases must be completed within 60 days. Within 90 days, recovery plans must be in place for priority and stalled cases.

Second, the Minister of Police, the National Commissioner of Police and the relevant forensic authorities must present a funded plan to reduce forensic backlogs within 60 days. Priority samples in cases involving the rape or murder of women and children will be ring-fenced for urgent processing.

Third, every municipality must begin a women’s safety audit to identify hazards such as broken streetlights, overgrown public spaces, abandoned buildings and unsafe transport routes. The results will be published.

Fourth, the Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition will work with the Ministers of Health, Social Development, Police and Cooperative Governance. Together they will submit to Cabinet, within 60 days, a legislative and enforcement package to reduce alcohol-related violence. The President stressed that alcohol never excuses violence. Responsibility always lies with the perpetrator.

The Inter-Ministerial Committee and the National Council on GBVF will monitor these measures. They will issue a first consolidated public progress report within 90 days and quarterly reports thereafter.

The President noted that government has reprioritised resources since GBVF was declared a national disaster last year. Shelter services are being expanded, Thuthuzela Care Centres continue to provide medical, forensic, counselling and legal services to survivors, and Sexual Offences Courts are being expanded.

The President warned that the greatest danger to women often lies not with strangers, but with the people closest to them. A South African Medical Research Council study found that more than 60 percent of women murdered in 2021 and 2022 were killed by an intimate partner. He called on men and boys to challenge friends, colleagues and relatives who abuse women. He also emphasised that responsibility for violence always belongs to the perpetrator, never to the victim.