To download the soundbite of the Chairperson, Ms Bridget Masango click here: https://iono.fm/e/1504847
Parliament, Thursday, 21 November 2024 – The Portfolio Committee on Social Development calls on law enforcement agencies and relevant stakeholders to urgently finalise the National Integrated Strategy on the Prevention of Femicide in South Africa, which seeks to strengthen the legislation and develop femicide-specific policies and guidelines to prevent and respond to femicide, among other objectives.
The committee received a briefing from the South African Medical Research Council (MRC) on its research studies and findings on the scope of gender-based violence and femicide in South Africa. MRC reported that its 2020/2021 research study revealed that the percentage of femicide cases where the investigation did not identify a perpetrator had increased to 44% from 30% in 2017.
The study also showed that between 2009 and 2020/2021, intimate partner femicide was the leading cause of femicide. Femicide is defined as the murder of women, regardless of the person’s age, gender identity, or sexual orientation, whether committed directly or indirectly by another person, and intimate partners are the most common perpetrators of femicide. The research also reveals that 3 women are killed per day by an intimate partner, while 1 in 4 women reported experiences of physical and sexual abuse.
Over the last 20 years, South Africa has had an estimated 10 972 cases of femicide. The committee is concerned that statistics by the MRC paint a bleak picture, and the needle is not moving in the right direction in the fight against GBV and femicide cases.
Despite this high prevalence of femicide in South Africa, the MRC told the committee that South Africa did not have a national strategy or policy on femicide, similar to the National Strategic Plan on GBVF. Hence, in partnership with the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, the MRC developed the National Integrated Strategy for the Prevention of Femicide in South Africa.
The Department of Social Development also briefed the committee on the progress made in implementing the National Strategy on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide. The committee also received a briefing on programmes aimed at decreasing teenage pregnancies. The committee was concerned that the department’s presentation was just a copy and paste of the National Strategic Plan on GBVF. It lacked details on its progress in implementing the Plan, as the committee had required it to do. The committee resolved that the department prepare a detailed progress report, including progress reports from the provincial departments, and present it to the committee on 4 December 2024.
“We are not winning the fight against what President Cyril Ramaphosa has called the second pandemic in South Africa. There does not seem to be collaboration amongst stakeholders in efforts to implement the national strategic plan. Furthermore, it is concerning that the programmes the government has to prevent teenage pregnancies don’t seem to be yielding encouraging results”, said the committee Chairperson, Ms Bridget Masango.
ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNICATION SERVICES ON BEHALF OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT, MS BRIDGET MASANGO.
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