South Africa’s president Cyril Ramaphosa has condemned acts of gender-based violence (GBV) in the country, while urging citizens to speak out against it.
Speaking at this year’s National Women’s Day celebrations in Richmond, KwaZulu-Natal with the theme ‘Women’s Socio-Economic Rights and Empowerment: Building Back Better for Women’s Improved Resilience’ on Tuesday, Ramaphosa said acts of GBV have continued to be a strong issue of concern to the nation, and must be stopped.
“Hardly a day goes by in SA without a report of women being attacked, violated or even killed by men. And this cannot continue and this has to stop,” he stated.
The president noted that GBV should not be seen as “women’s problem,” but should in fact, be understood as “men’s problem,” since they are often the culprits behind most abuses.
“We should not see this as a women’s problem when it is in fact a problem … This is a men’s problem. And it is a manmade problem. We as men are the ones who are causing these problems that make the women of our country to be afraid to walk in the streets, in the pathways of our rural areas,” he said.
He further urged South Africans to condemn acts of gender based violence in strong terms by speaking out against them. He added that silence would only deepen the problem by spreading it further and deadlier, like cancer.