South Africa: Ramaphosa orders crackdown on unsafe streets to protect women

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced a crackdown on unsafe streets to protect women after the bodies of 12 women were discovered in two months east of Johannesburg. The deaths have sparked a national outcry about the high rates of gender-based violence in a country with one of the world's highest rates. Ramaphosa also plans to tackle alcohol-related violence as part of his national emergency response.

He stated that gender-based violence cannot be "accepted as a normal part of life" and admitted that South Africa has "not done enough" to protect women and girls. Four arrests have been made so far, although the police have not found evidence linking the killings to a single perpetrator. Ramaphosa has ordered municipalities to conduct women's safety audits, identifying hazards such as broken streetlights, overgrown spaces, abandoned buildings and unsafe transport routes.

He also instructed ministers to devise a plan to reduce alcohol-related violence, emphasizing that while alcohol does not cause gender-based violence, it is a significant aggravating factor. The president emphasized that ending violence against women requires a more profound change, starting with attitudes that view women as inferior and believing men have the right to control them.

He called on men and boys to lead the effort to end gender-based violence, rejecting the notion that "the solution to violence against women cannot be to make women less free." South Africa has one of the world's highest homicide rates, with 5,427 people murdered between April and June this year, of which 569 women were killed.