President Cyril Ramaphosa Says SA Has Made Strides Towards Gender Equity but GBV Remains a Huge Obstacle

• Through his newsletter, President Cyril Ramaphosa said that South Africans should not forget how far gender equality has come in the country
• Ramaphosa added that even though gender equity has enjoyed much success, gender-based violence remains the biggest obstacle to true equality
• The president has also called on men to be instrumental in the fight against gender-based violence

PRETORIA - In preparation for Women's Day, President Cyril Ramaphosa dedicated his weekly newsletter, released on Monday, to the women of South Africa’s past, present and future. He said while the advancement of gender equity has come a long way, GBV is the biggest hurdle to true realisation.

Reminiscing about the 1956 women's march, President Ramaphosa reminds South Africans that it is because of the bravery of Rahima Moosa, Lilian Ngoyi, Helen Joseph and Sophie Williams de Bruyn that South African women can now enjoy the fundamental democratic rights that their grandmothers and great grandmothers were denied.

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According to EWN, the president went on to credit the South African government for the work it has done to advance gender equality, stating:

"Last week we appointed the first female Deputy National Commissioner of the South African Police Service, and last month Justice Mandisa Maya was appointed as South Africa’s first female Deputy Chief Justice. Out of 256 judges on the bench, 114 are female and nearly half of all magistrates are female.”

Despite these achievements, Ramaphosa used his newsletter to acknowledge that gender-based violence remains the biggest obstacle to achieving full and meaningful gender equality. The president challenges the men of South Africa to step up and be instrumental in eradicating GBV.

“This is not a problem of women, but a problem of men. And it is men who are being called upon to be part of the solution, starting with their own attitudes and conduct.”

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South Africans have called President Cyril Ramaphosa out and accused him of not doing enough to end GBV:

@AardvarkBloody said:

“The media should stop publishing Ramaphosa's newsletters until there is progress - on anything.”

@LankyCuzin commented:

“All talk!”

@mystery0904 added:

“Maybe if you actually had proper sentences for the convicted instead of a slap on the wrist & a 'don't do it again", things may change.”

@kelezane tweeted:

"We know the words - we have been waiting for action and police visibility in our townships - our woman and township economies are dying daily."

Brave guy stands up to GBV after hearing neighbour attack his partner

In a related matter, Briefly News also reported that a young man recently shared with Facebook's ImStaying page how he managed to stop an abusive man from doing further harm to his girlfriend by going over to their apartment and threatening the man who was hitting his woman.

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He then details how he threatened to get into the house and beat the man should he continue to beat his girlfriend, and soon the banging and crying noises stopped.

Source: Briefly News