President Cyril Ramaphosa says necessary amendments are needed to South Africa’s laws and policies to ensure that perpetrators of gender-based violence are dealt with.
The President has been addressing a joint sitting of both houses of Parliament.
Ramaphosa says government will have funding packages that will focus on interventions to curb gender-based violence.
“We will also complete the implementation of the decisions that were taken at last year’s presidential summit on gender-based violence and femicide.”
The President says the scourge of violence against women in the country reflects on a general problem with the fabric of South African society.
He says government will be implementing a number of mechanisms as part of various interventions to deal with the issue.
“South Africa is one of the most unsafe places in the world for a woman to live, the levels of violence that is comparable to countries that are at war. While it has its own causes and it is specific, gender based violence reflects a broader crisis of violence in our country.”
