EFF Criticises Ramaphosa's GBVF Address, Says Government Lacked Political Will

• The EFF accused President Cyril Ramaphosa of reacting to public outrage rather than preventing gender-based violence
• EFF spokesperson Thembi Msane said the 10 women found dead in Ekurhuleni had already been failed by state institutions before their deaths
• The ANC Greater Johannesburg Region took a different stance, welcoming the president's four-point plan

SOUTH AFRICA — The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) has pushed back against President Cyril Ramaphosa's national address on gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF), arguing that his intervention amounted to little more than a reaction to public pressure.

Ramaphosa addressed the nation on Tuesday evening, presenting a four-point plan with specific timelines aimed at combating GBVF. The address came in the wake of growing public concern after the bodies of 10 women were discovered dumped across different areas in Ekurhuleni.

EFF accuses state of reactive governance

According to the Citizen, EFF spokesperson Thembi Msane argued that the women found dead in Ekurhuleni had been let down by the very institutions meant to keep them safe, long before their deaths occurred. She criticised the president for naming the victims in his address while presenting the state as though it was confronting the GBVF crisis for the first time.

Read also

“Treating the symptoms”: Forensic expert breaks down Ramaphosa’s 4-point GBV plan

Msane maintained that the state already has data on areas where violent crime is concentrated and where women face the greatest risk. In her view, the country's GBVF crisis does not stem from a shortage of information, but from failures in political will, institutional capacity and accountability.

See post here:

ANC backs Ramaphosa's intervention

The ANC Greater Johannesburg Region offered a contrasting response, welcoming the measures announced by the president. The party said Ramaphosa's address placed the safety of women and girls at the centre of both state and societal responsibility.

The ANC specifically praised the directive for municipalities to carry out women's safety audits, stating that these should translate into visible and measurable improvements within communities.

The diverging reactions reflect the contested political terrain around GBVF in South Africa, where the scale of violence against women has repeatedly prompted calls for more decisive government action.

Read also

Julius Malema rejects calls to scrap IDAC, South Africans divived by EFF leader's reasoning

Forensic expert pushes back on Ramaphosa's GBV plan

Briefly News also reported that a South African forensic expert is pushing back against President Cyril Ramaphosa's emergency response to the country's gender-based violence crisis, saying the government is treating symptoms instead of the disease. Her core argument centred on research-based intervention at the youth level. She explained that South Africa's violence has a unique historical and social context that cannot be addressed by borrowing research models from other countries.

Source: Briefly News