President Jacob Zuma launches the 16 Days of Activism Against Women and Children Abuse at the Missionvale campus of the Nelson Mandela University in Port Elizabeth on Saturday.
The South African Medical Research Council says a woman is killed by an intimate partner every eight hours in South Africa.
Many believe that poverty, unemployment, drug and alcohol abuse are contributing factors to gender based violence.
While speaking at a dialogue on gender based violence earlier this week, Social Development MEC Nancy Sihlwayi appealed to communities to work with government to put an end to the scourge.
“We need to hear the struggles they face daily and work with them to find solutions. Communities are still concerned about the conviction rate of reported cases.”
