Hundreds of South African women gathered in Pretoria on Friday to protest against gender-based violence (GBV) and femicide, marching to the Union Buildings, the seat of government, to demand action.
The demonstration, spearheaded by the African National Congress Women’s League (ANCWL), is part of the annual 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children campaign. Various women’s organizations and non-governmental groups joined the march, which aimed to present a memorandum of demands to the president’s office.
Speaking at the march, former ANCWL president Bathabile Dlamini emphasized the urgency of addressing the country’s high rates of femicide and abuse. “We stand in solidarity with women killed due to gender-based violence,” she said, noting that GBV affects women across all socio-economic and racial groups.
ANCWL Secretary General Nokuthula Nqaba stressed that tackling GBV requires collective societal responsibility, urging all citizens to confront the crisis head-on.
President Cyril Ramaphosa, in 2021, described GBV as a “second pandemic” alongside COVID-19. This week, Deputy President Paul Mashatile, while launching the campaign in Rustenburg, called for a year-round commitment to combating violence against women, extending the campaign’s focus beyond its Nov. 25–Dec. 10 duration.
