Ramaphosa Orders 60-Day Safety Audit, 90-Day Case Review After Ekurhuleni Killings
South Africa's president unveiled a 60-day women's safety audit and a 90-day review of unresolved gender-based violence cases after at least 11 women were killed in Ekurhuleni since July.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced a set of urgent measures to confront violence against women, following the killing of at least 11 women in Ekurhuleni, east of Johannesburg, since July.
In a televised national address on Tuesday, Ramaphosa said the violence inflicted on the country's women was a source of profound pain and national shame. He said the nation and its women were angry, that their anger was justified, and that he shared both that anger and the grief at lives "cruelly and senselessly cut short."
Speaking with what he described as the heaviest of hearts, the president said he addressed the country not only as head of state but also as a man, a husband and a father to daughters, and that no man should look away from the violence to which women in South Africa are subjected.
Under the measures, an audit of women's safety is to be completed within 60 days. Local authorities nationwide will be required to identify dangerous and high-risk areas, including places with broken streetlights, abandoned buildings, poorly secured parks and unsafe cemeteries.
Ramaphosa also directed the Minister of Police, the National Commissioner of Police and relevant forensic authorities to present, within the same 60-day window, a funded plan to reduce forensic backlogs and set clear turnaround standards for priority gender-based violence and femicide cases. That plan must detail the size and age of the backlog, shortages of personnel and equipment, the resources required, and the dates by which the backlog will be reduced.
Separately, police and the National Prosecuting Authority have been ordered to review unresolved cases involving murders, attempted murders, rapes and other gender-based violence within 90 days.
The killings have left residents of Ekurhuleni frightened, particularly after the body of the 11th victim was discovered on Sunday. The area remains on high alert while authorities investigate whether a serial killer or killers are responsible.