South Africa Unveils New Measures Against Gender-Based Violence After String of Femicides Sparks National Outrage

South Africa’s president has vowed tougher action against gender-based violence after at least 11 women were killed in Ekurhuleni.

President Cyril Ramaphosa set out fresh measures on Tuesday to address gender-based violence, following a wave of killings that triggered public outrage nationwide.

Since mid-July, no fewer than 11 women have been murdered in Ekurhuleni, a municipality east of Johannesburg.
The finding of their bodies has revived concern about the country’s stubbornly high rate of violence against women, especially after the 11th victim was found on Sunday.

The area is still on high alert as investigators work to establish whether one or more serial killers are behind the deaths.

“The nation is angry. The women of South Africa are angry. Their anger is justified. I share that anger,” Ramaphosa said in a national address.

The measures include a clampdown on alcohol abuse and a nationwide women’s safety audit, which must be finished within 60 days.

Related: At Least 27 Dead in Two Separate Mass Shootings in South Africa

Under the audit, municipalities across the country will have to pinpoint unsafe and high-risk locations, such as areas with faulty streetlights, derelict buildings and insecure parks.

Four people in custody

In the televised address on Tuesday, Ramaphosa directed the police and the National Prosecuting Authority to go through all outstanding cases of murder, attempted murder, rape and other gender-based violence within 90 days.

He added that a multidisciplinary emergency response at national level had been set up to probe the Ekurhuleni killings, in connection with which four people are being held by police.

“There has understandably been widespread fear that the discovery of these women in close proximity could indicate the work of a single perpetrator,” Ramaphosa said.

“At present, the police have not found evidence establishing that these killings were committed by a single perpetrator.”

The most recent victim was discovered on Sunday in an open field. A day earlier, the partially clothed body of another woman had been found close to a cemetery in the same municipality.

A number of the victims were in their 20s and 30s, and some had been stripped of their clothing and bore signs of sexual assault.

Ramaphosa acknowledged that, although gender-based violence was declared a national disaster last year, the government had let women down.

“We must confront an uncomfortable truth. What we have done has not been enough. We need to do much more,” he said. Official crime figures show that South Africa logged 5,427 homicides between April and July.

According to UN Women, the United Nations agency for gender equality, the country’s femicide rate ranks among the highest worldwide.