President Cyril Ramaphosa will on Wednesday lead South Africa’s cabinet ministers in signing a pledge against gender-based violence (GBV), a problem the president has previously described as the “second pandemic” facing the country.
Presidential spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said Wednesday’s ceremony is expected to set the tone for a nationwide pledge where all men in the country would be “urged to attach their signature as a demonstration of their personal commitment to ending this scourge.”
“President Ramaphosa, Deputy President (Paul) Mashatile and male ministers will append their signatures to a symbolic, large-format version of the pledge,” Magwenya said on Monday.
Male deputy ministers would also be invited to express their commitment to ending GBV by signing the pledge, he said.
“Soon after members of the national executive sign the pledge, the document will be posted online to allow men across the country to add their names as signatories.”
He added: “The pledge will progressively be made available in other formats to men all around the country.”
The pledge forms part of the effort, conceptualised in the National Strategic Plan on Gender-based Violence and Femicide (GBVF), to end GBV altogether by mobilising all of society.
In his State of the Nation Address in February, Ramaphosa said his government supported calls for a pledge that South African men demonstrate personal commitment to ending the scourge of GBVF.
The rate of violence against women and girls in South Africa is among the highest in the world, with official figures showing that one in five women in relationships have experienced physical violence by a partner.
Several more are victims of GBV perpetrated by men they know or strangers, according to Statistics South Africa.
The problem worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic when most people were forced to stay at home due to lockdown measures. This saw cases of physical domestic violence escalating, leading Ramaphosa to liken the challenge to a “second pandemic”.
JN/APA