SADTU SUPPORTS THE CALLS FOR A NATIONAL SHUTDOWN TO HIGHLIGHT THE SCOURGE OF GBVF
The South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (SADTU) stands in firm solidarity with the millions of South Africans participating in today’s national shutdown and demonstrations calling for Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF) to be declared a national disaster.
The shutdown, led by the Women For Change on the eve of the G20 Summit, seeks to draw global attention to the scourge of GBVF and its devastating impact. Gender-Based Violence and Femicide is an assault on human dignity, with far reaching consequences for the well-being, and freedoms of women and girls. It demands a decisive and co-ordinated national response.
We welcome President Cyril Ramaphosa’s declaration yesterday that GBVF is a national crisis and its classification as a national disaster in terms of Section 23 of the Disaster Management Act of 2002. However, declarations must be followed by practical, sustained, and measurable action. Despite various laws enacted to protect women and children, this scourge continues at an alarming rate, with conviction rates for crimes against women and children remaining low compared to the number of cases reported.
Today’s demonstrations come at a painful time for the Union. We are mourning the brutal killing of the principal of Inxiweni Primary School and an administrative assistant, both women who were gunned at the school premises on Tuesday allegedly by armed men. The killing of the two women, mothers is so painful and barbaric. When you kill a woman, you weaken the foundation of any family and nation; you disrupt the growth and future of our children and nation. Their deaths are a tragic reminder that no space, including schools, is spared from the scourge of gender-based violence.
South Africa cannot continue to be one of the most unsafe countries in the world for women and girls. We call on the G20 Summit to ensure that GBVF is reflected in its declarations and commitments.
SADTU stands with all survivors, families, activists, and communities rising against this crisis. We reiterate our commitment to fighting GBVF within the education sector, and throughout society.
ISSUED BY: SADTU Secretariat