News24 | 'She's not your football' – Ramaphosa talks tough to men as country kicks off 16 Days of Activism

President Cyril Ramaphosa.

• The annual 16 Days of Activism campaign against gender-based violence and femicide has kicked off.
• ANC leader Cyril Ramaphosa launched the party's Raising a Boy Child campaign on Saturday morning. 
• In Durban, a crowd applauded and chanted when Ramaphosa repeatedly told them women are not men's possessions.

"Women are not the possessions of men. God never decreed in that way, so as a man, forget it."

This admonishment to men from ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa was greeted by applause and chants from a crowd in Kwa-Zulu-Natal on Saturday.

"The woman you love or are married to is not your possession," Ramaphosa said after launching the "Raising a Boy Child" campaign, which aims to instil moral values and develop and empower boys.

Ramaphosa launched the campaign at the start of the annual 16 Days of Activism against gender-based violence and femicide.

He led a peace walk in Durban, where residents braced the cold and wet weather to hear the president speak. 

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"When people look at our country, they see a country that is [beset] with gender-based violence. It is a scourge, a shame and something we cannot be proud of as men. It is a [blight] on our country. 

"When the whole world looks at South Africa, they say that it is the home of gender-based violence. We've got to end this. We must wear the badge of honour, the badge of respect by men for women."

The crowd erupted with applause and chants when Ramaphosa repeatedly addressed the men, saying women are not their possessions.  

Ramaphosa said:

As part of Parliament's campaign, its presiding officers committed on Saturday to use its constitutional powers of oversight over the executive and law-making powers, and to facilitate cooperative governance and public participation to bolster national efforts to eradicate gender-based violence.

Last week, Minister of Police Bheki Cele and the police's top brass released the quarterly crime statistics for July to September, showing there had been a 1.5% drop in sexual offences compared with the same period in the last financial year.

Although sexual offences showed a decrease in the last three months, the statistics reveal there were 10 516 rape incidents reported to the police between July and September. Most of these incidents were at the home of the victim or the perpetrator, the presiding officers said in a statement.

The police’s statistics also showed there were 1 514 incidents of attempted murder involving female victims reported from July to September. Women were recorded as victims in 14 401 cases of assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm.

It is against this background that the presiding officers, led by Speaker of the National Assembly Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula and Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces Amos Masondo, urged South Africans to double their efforts to fight the scourge of violence.

They believe the "compendium of gender-based violence legislation" that Parliament passed will have a positive effect in the long term.

In January last year, President Ramaphosa signed into law three pieces of legislation meant to strengthen government's efforts.

The Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Bill aimed at preventing sex crimes provides, among others, for the inclusion of details of all sex offenders on the National Register for Sex Offenders.

Previously, details were limited to sex offenders perpetrating crimes against children and those living with mental disabilities.

Another piece of legislation – the Criminal and Related Matters Amendment Bill – seeks to prevent secondary victimisation of survivors in court proceedings and provides, among others, for complainants to give evidence through an intermediary.

READ | IN-DEPTH: 30 cases of violence against women and children over 31 days in October

The Domestic Violence Amendment Bill, in turn, provides for electronic applications for protection orders and domestic violence safety monitoring notices, among others. 

In addition, the National Assembly in October approved the National Council on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (NCGBVF) Bill.

The Bill is the outcome of the Presidential Summit Declaration against Gender-Based Violence and Femicide of 2018, which was aimed at preventing and eliminating the abuse, violence and murder of women in South Africa.

When signed into law, the NCGBVF Bill will launch a National Council that will manage a procedural approach to gender-based violence and femicide cases in collaboration with relevant stakeholders.