{
  "id": 13971581,
  "title": "POLITICALLY AWEH: Cupcake’s GBV family meeting and Zuma’s very short IEC pledge",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/12/politically-aweh-cupcakes-gbv-family-meeting-and-zumas-very-short-iec",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-12T14:12:07.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Daily Maverick",
    "slug": "daily-maverick",
    "url": "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-10-12-cupcakes-gbv-family-meeting-and-zumas-very-short-iec-pledge/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "In the final days of September, promises dominated discussions, with varying durations. President Cyril Ramaphosa convened a family meeting on September 29th to address the issue of gender-based violence (GBV). This marked his most somber address on the subject, as 13 women were murdered in Ekurhuleni since July. Ramaphosa acknowledged the ongoing crisis, stating, \"What weighs on me most is that seven years ago, in this same month, I stood before the nation to speak about this same crisis.\" He emphasized that the directives issued were not mere expressions of goodwill. Four directives were presented, each with deadlines ranging from 60 to 90 days. These included an audit of unresolved murders, rapes, and sexual offenses against women and children; a plan to address the forensic backlog; a \"women's safety audit\" of every municipality's streetlights and dangerous routes; and a crackdown on illegal shebeens and after-hours trading. The team expressed frustration with the message to men and boys, urging them to stop being silent. Suspended Deputy National Police Commissioner Shadrack Sibiya had recently been charged with rape, human trafficking, and child sexual grooming, charges he denied. The Department of Labour offered a solution for youth unemployment by encouraging volunteering, despite the criticism that telling unemployed people to work for free is insulting. As the local government elections approached, party leaders signed the IEC's code of conduct in Midrand, vowing no violence, voter intimidation, or misinformation. Jacob Zuma, who signed the code, expressed happiness, but MK's response was a challenge to the 2024 election results, maintaining that the infamous leaderboard glitch did not impact vote counting. The EFF's reputation was further tarnished by Julius Malema's firearm conviction following a viral video in July 2018. With numerous young people feeling politically homeless, Zoë Human broke down the local government elections for first-time voters, explaining the voting process and providing insights into the election special event scheduled for October 21st at the Homecoming Centre in Cape Town.",
  "summary": "The final days of September were all about promises, and how long they last. From Ramaphosa’s talks on GBV from seven years ago to Jacob Zuma’s election pledges, while the Department of Labour promised unemployed young people the joy of working for free. In this episode too, Politically Aweh’s Zoë Human breaks down the ABCs of the LGEs, so you know exactly who to blame for that pothole before you…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}