Chikunga names three Acts and a new council as nine Ekurhuleni killings go to court

Nine women have been killed in the Ekurhuleni region since July, and the minister responsible for the state’s response says the laws meant to protect them are being tightened rather than rewritten.

Minister in the Presidency for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities Sindisiwe Chikunga set out the measures at a Memorial Dialogue against Gender-Based Violence and Femicide held at the Civic Centre in Kempton Park on Thursday, where government joined the families and communities of the dead.

“Enough is enough,” Chikunga said, telling the gathering that women should be able to walk, run and occupy public spaces without fear.

What the legislation now says

Chikunga named three Acts as the backbone of the state’s response: the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act, the Criminal and Related Matters Amendment Act and the Domestic Violence Amendment Act.

Two consequences follow from those amendments, and both fall on people other than the perpetrator.

Employers are now required to check the National Register for Sexual Offenders before finalising an appointment. Those who fail to comply, the minister said, can face criminal liability.

And the amendments to the Criminal Procedure Act have removed the ability of police and prosecutors to grant station bail in gender-based violence cases. That decision now sits with the courts, after a hearing.

Chikunga also pointed to provisions on life imprisonment and parole as part of the strengthened consequences for perpetrators.

The council, and what it owes the country

The National Council on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide has been established as a permanent, statutory and multisectoral mechanism to coordinate and monitor the country’s response. Its board was inaugurated recently.

The board is expected to develop a comprehensive national action plan covering prevention, accountability and interventions across the country. That plan is the instrument to watch, because it is where coordination either becomes a working system or stays a document.

Kempton Park, and the six bodies still unnamed

The memorial followed the death of Elizabeth Moselakgomo, whose body was identified in Kempton Park on Monday. She had left home for an afternoon routine run the previous week, and her daughter alerted the family when she did not return.

Chikunga visited Moselakgomo’s family in Kempton Park on Wednesday and said the case shows how far the impact of gender-based violence and femicide reaches into children, families and communities.

“The trauma we witness here in Kempton Park is not an isolated incident,” she said, describing the violence against women as a systemic national crisis.

The minister appealed to members of the public with information about missing relatives or friends to come forward and help authorities identify the remaining six bodies. Naming them, she said, would let families hold dignified burials and would help investigators pursue those responsible.

The police instruction, and the answer on progress

President Cyril Ramaphosa has directed that the Kempton Park cases be prioritised and that law enforcement agencies use all available investigative resources to identify and prosecute those responsible. Acting Police Minister Professor Firoz Cachalia delivered the President’s message to the gathering.

“We are determined to act with urgency to solve these killings, to bring those responsible to justice, and to restore calm and security to communities,” Ramaphosa said. “The South African Police Service, working together with all relevant State bodies, has dedicated personnel and resources to these cases.”

That is the commitment on the record. What the public record does not yet carry is the number of arrests, the number of cases in which a docket has been handed to the National Prosecuting Authority, and how many of the nine deaths are being investigated as linked. Those are the figures that will show whether the dedicated resources produced prosecutions, and the families in Ekurhuleni are entitled to them as the investigations proceed.

The appeal to men

Chikunga issued a direct appeal to men to reject violence against women and girls, and said government is placing greater emphasis on promoting positive masculinity through engagement with schools, churches and traditional leaders.

“True masculinity does not destroy. It builds and protects.”

She said the deaths should strengthen the country’s resolve to prevent gender-based violence and femicide and to ensure accountability.

Source: SAnews (South African Government News Agency), Government vows tougher action against GBVF, https://www.sanews.gov.za/south-africa/government-vows-tougher-action-against-gbvf