Breaking the cycle of GBV in South Africa

South Africa is failing in the fight against gender-based violence (GBV) as the number of women killings continue to rise.

There were promises, pledges of funds and even change in legislation over the years but, despite all these efforts, women are still dying.

The latest police statistics paint a grim picture as 957 women were killed between July and September last year. In 2023, the death toll stood at 881, so this is an 8.6% hike.

The latest incident is that of Ayabonga Mjilo, 23, who was reported missing Christmas week after she was last seen leaving a restaurant in uMhlanga in KwaZulu-Natal on Christmas day.

Police spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda said the man spotted leaving the eatery with her was her work manager, Mfanafuthi Kunene, 37.

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Netshiunda said Kunene allegedly strangled Mjilo and buried her body in his yard.

He appeared in the Durban Magistrate’s Court last week and his case was postponed to next month.

She was one of four women killed in recent weeks and it is outrageous that for a couple of days, government leaders visit the bereaved and condemn the act. After that it is business as usual . No tangible action until the next case is reported.

The week before Christmas, Nontobeko Cele, 25, was stabbed by her boyfriend Sibusiso Mtaka on the KZN south coast. Mtaka confessed in a video he posted on social media. His body was later found hanging from a tree.

As Mtaka lay dead in the mortuary, some men fiercely justified why he did what he did. This showed we, as a country, still have a long way to go in the fight against GBV. As long as we are split into two, men and women – each supporting their own gender – nothing meaningful will be achieved.

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Another 21-year-old mother and her three-year-old child died after they were stabbed, allegedly by her boyfriend, who was also the father of the child in Kranskop in KZN.

The man was later apprehended.

Before the Mzinyathi case, Bongeka Makhathini, 21, and her three-year-old son, Okuhle, were also killed, allegedly by her boyfriend, Mlondi Cele, on the south coast of KZN.

Bongeka’s body was found in the bedroom, with her son just metres away. Both had their throats slit.

Cele was later found hanging in the lounge of an RDP house in Danganya, uMgababa.

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Women continue to die because men believe they deserve punishment for the wrongs they do to them. Men must be taught that they do not own their wives or girlfriends.

We will continue to cry and call on men, in vain, to lead the fight against GBV, just like former police minister Bheki Cele did last May.

He was speaking at the signing of the National Council of Gender-Based Violence and Femicide Bill by President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Ramaphosa said the statutory council would be a multisectoral body made up of expertise from civil society, labour and business, mandated to provide strategic leadership in eliminating GBV.

The Act was signed on 24 May and became effective on 15 November last year.

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Ten days after the Act became operational, the 16 days of activism began, but nothing was done to ensure it begins its crucial work.

If we are to defeat GBV, decisive action is needed. More vigorous campaigns, aimed at boys and men on how to treat women, are needed. Where is the department of social development? This is no time to drag feet, get to work and save lives.