JOHANNESBURG/CAPE TOWN, Sept. 22 (Xinhua) -- South African authorities have pledged more resources and technology to combat gender-based violence after the bodies of nine women were found in Ekurhuleni, east of Johannesburg, between July and September.
On the sidelines of a fundraising event in Johannesburg on Monday, President Cyril Ramaphosa said that the government was taking the killings seriously and would step up efforts to protect women.
"Gender-based violence is not only a problem for women, but it's also a national crisis," he said, adding that the government would deploy "more money, more resources, more technology" to address women's safety concerns.
Ramaphosa stressed that the government must take responsibility for protecting women and that they should be able to walk on the streets without fear.
Deputy Minister of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities Mmapaseka Steve Letsike on Tuesday urged a whole-of-society response to violence against women while briefing Parliament on the National Strategic Plan on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF).
Letsike said the response to GBVF must extend beyond government to workplaces, professional associations, places of worship and communities, which should actively uphold the dignity of women and support those who report abuse.
She said the plan not only strengthened coordination structures and the integration of GBVF priorities into government planning and reporting, but also identified uneven municipal capacity, inadequate victim support facilities, weaknesses in referral pathways and gaps in monitoring information.
"The strategic task is to strengthen local delivery, align resources with the areas of greatest need and measure whether interventions improve people's lives," Letsike added.
Lisa Vetten, a research associate at the Southern Center for Inequality Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand, told Xinhua that violence against women is a deeply entrenched problem requiring sustained interventions rather than short-term responses to individual crises.
She said the recent killings underscored the complexity of violence and the need to look beyond attitudes and behavior to address broader structural problems.
Vetten also highlighted the role of municipal services in improving public safety, pointing to overgrown grass, unsecured parks and broken streetlights as examples of neglected public spaces.
She called for sustained behavioral programs to equip people with practical emotional and conflict-resolution skills, alongside improvements in municipal services.
On Sunday, the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide announced that it had approved a comprehensive emergency strategy focusing on crime prevention, law enforcement and support for victims and survivors.
Under the strategy, a specialized multidisciplinary team investigating the killings has been placed under the coordination of the deputy national police commissioner responsible for detective services. Police visibility has also been increased in affected areas.
