Political leadership lacking in addressing GBV

On Sunday 28 May all South African women are asked to wear black from head to toe and wear red lipstick, then upload photos with the hashtag #GodCreatedWoman.

Every eight hours an intimate partner kills a woman in South Africa. Imagine if his intimate partner in the name of love killed every eight hours was a man. Would the President not declare a State of Emergency? Would the media not demand justice from its front pages, and preachers from their pulpits?

Two weeks ago, South Africa woke up to the horrific news of the death of Karabo Mokoena, allegedly at the hands of her boyfriend Sandile Mantsoe. As expected Mokoena’s gruesome, murder resulted in a public outcry against Gender Based Violence (GBV).

Soul City Literature Review defines GBV as any harm that is perpetrated against a person’s will that has a negative impact on their physical or psychological health, development, and identity of the person, because of their gender. This violence has its roots in the gendered power inequities that exploit distinctions between males and females. These gendered power inequities, which are tipped in favour of males. GBV is extremely complex and it manifests in many forms including physical, sexual and psychosocial abuse

As a result of Mokoena’s death; GBV, femicide, abusive men, men are trash, policy failure, not my name, and rape became the most trending words in the mainstream media and on social media throughout the country. This case because of its horrific nature, forced the nation to once again start having a serious conversation around GBV.

It is disheartening that GBV becomes a trending conversation only when a woman has already lost her life. While in the past years there have been a handful of high profile femicide cases that have made it to the national media these are however just a tip of the iceberg.

According to the South African Medical Research Council In the year 1999, most cases of intimate femicide in the South African Police Service (SAPS) dockets had not recorded past history of partner violence, despite research showing that this is very common and valuable in securing a conviction. The same study showed that the vast majority of female homicides documented between 1999 to 2009 went unpunished, with less than 38 percent of intimate-partner femicides leading to conviction in less than two years”. Due to the underreporting of such cases creates an increase on GBV daily, while the state takes time or ignore them

By the end of last week as more shocking GBV cases prompted by Mokoena’s death continued to emerge opposition political parties on the other hand saw an opportunity to highlight how the Africa National Congress (ANC) led government has failed the women of South Africa.

Politician and Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) president Julius Malema expressed his sadness on the news on Mokoena’s death. Malema said he is not proud to be a South African man. His party also released a statement, condemning the brutal murder and daily violence against women. The EFF also supported the Not in My Name march against GBV, which they see as an everyday experience of women in South Africa.

Speaking at Mokoena’s funeral service, Susan Shabangu Minister of Women in the Presidency, said that men need to take a stand against this violence. “We want to hear the voice of men speaking against the abuse, killings, and rape.”

Colleen Lowe Morna, Gender Links Chief Executive Officer (CEO), in an interview with the SABC said, “We should turn our anger into action. Men should rise and stand up against violence. The statistic is that five in six men are not violent but where are those men we need to see them at the front.”

Their claims could not be further from the truth as despite much work done by civil society on addressing the scourge of GBV, the country’s leadership continues to delegate the issue to the periphery of the national agenda. Moreover, the justice system also continues to fail women. South Africa has put in place progressive and comprehensive laws, policies and support systems to respond to violence against women (VAW).

However having all these policies there is still lack of effectiveness in dealing with GBV. The levels of gender-based violence in South Africa are unacceptably high. Survivors of GBV struggle for justice. They face intimidation and interminable delays. Women have a right to safety and security, like all citizens, as guaranteed in the Bill of Rights. Every other women who have lost their lives in fear need the government first to ensure they get justice.

In another high profile GBV case, Reeva Steenkamp lost her life at the hands of her partner. The ANC women’s league released a statement of appeal to the decision made by the judge so that she can change her verdict on Oscar.

The ANC Womens League are now showing the support not only to Karabo but also to all women and advising them to know their rights. Bathabile Dlamini, Minister of Social Development and President of the ANC Women’s league said “Women understand the issues of violence against women, and at all times, we talk to women, men are not there. They must stand up, I thought I would find many men here they are not here. We can’t keep on talking about one in the same thing; we can’t keep on being pushed to listen to people who do not have respect for women,”.

All cases of GBV should be brought to light and all leaders should come out in their numbers to condemn these acts of violence against women. Highlighting a few high profile cases is not enough to deter would be perpetrators.

Earlier this year President Jacob Zuma delivered his last State of the Nation Address (SONA) as the leader of the ANC. To the dismay of many gender and social activists he did not address GBV issues whether in terms of progress made or the future government’s commitment. This is despite the country’s commitments to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the updated SADC Protocol on Gender and Development that both aim to end GBV by 2030.

GBV and in particular violence against women, is one of the most expensive public health problems globally and has a fundamental impact on economic growth which can span several generations. Research shows that GBV costs South Africa between R28.4 billion and R42.4billion per year or between 0.9% and of GDP annually. With these alarming costs, there is need for adequate allocation of resources, training of senior government officials to address mind-sets and attitudes towards GBV.

As GBV continues to escalate a national strategic plan is essential to coordinate, monitor and evaluate GBV prevalence and prevention. Governments should commit to eliminate GBV in the society through committing resources and programmes to end GBV. We need simple and yet effective plans to tackle this social ill. If a government is committed to end GBV, the political discourse, resources, programmes will show political will to end this social ill.

Listen to a GL interview on femicide here. Read more on femicide in our policy brief

 Petronell Ngonyama and Tshwaresa Malatji are media interns Gender Links . This article is part of the Gender Links News and Blogs service.