Minister of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities Sindisiwe Chikunga
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The department has hardly made strides in addressing the national gender-based violence and femicide crisis besides awareness campaigns and public statements condemning each violent case as it occurs.
As the “custodian of strategic leadership, advocacy, and coordination to mainstream the socio-economic empowerment of women, youth and persons with disabilities” the department has often waited for civil society to act and then join in the work already done. Minister Chikunga called the announcement by President Cyril Ramaphosa declaring gender-based violence and femicide a national emergency, “bold and necessary”, although the effort was in fact pushed by the Women For Change rights group.
Ramaphosa was pushed to make the announcement after the NGO announced a national protest on the eve of the G20 leader’s summit in November. Without this initiative GBVF would still be regarded as a normal crime like any other. The department and Chikunga herself have not done much in action and implementation.
Their work appears to be limited to media campaigns and curated media statements rather than tangible justice and crime prevention to protect women. Not enough in a country where over 30% of women experience physical violence, according to Statistics South Africa, while police recorded over 40000 instances of rape.