A group of women in Kimberley, in the Northern Cape, have marched to the Galeshewe Police Station in protest of violence against women and children.
They have added their voices to the call to end violence against women and children.
They want police to start prioritising cases that include the abuse, murder and rape of women and children.
Fear, anxiety and hopelessness, this is what these women say they feel when they hear of yet another case of rape and murder of another woman.
In the video below, calls are for crimes against women and children to be declared a national disaster:
The women say they have had enough of living in fear and are demanding swifter and harsher action against men who perpetrate these crimes.
“I want to say to our uncles and our fathers, what are you doing to our girl child, especially the young girl children? Our children are the future of tomorrow and they are the leaders of tomorrow.”
March organiser Thandiwe Mfulo says the fact that women are marching against gender-based violence is an indication that the Justice Department and law enforcement agencies are failing to protect them.
“We are being treated like we do not add value as women. How many women do I know who became disabled because of violence? How many women have died because of violence? And what is it that you are doing as police, what is that you doing as the Justice Department?”
Just 20 kilometres away from where the women marched, the bail application of 34-year-old Sizwe Ntwane who allegedly raped a 74-year-old woman was postponed in the Ritchie Magistrate’s Court.
Silent protest
In the Western Cape, members of the ANC gathered outside the provincial legislator in Cape Town to hold a silent protest against the GBV scourge.
The protest was also in solidarity of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Only a handful of protesters turned out but this was attributed to the COVID-19 regulations, which only allows up to 50 people to demonstrate.
The Provincial Coordinator of the ANC, Ronalda Nalumangu, reiterated the call of many South Africans that GBV perpetrators be slapped with the harshest possible sentences. Nalumangu also called for the judiciary to deny perpetrators of such crimes bail.
That call is, however, unlikely to hold water as it is contrary to the South African Constitution, which states that everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty by a court of law.
