Pretoria: Deputy Minister in the Presidency for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities Mmapaseka Steve Letsike has called for stronger regional cooperation and collective action to accelerate efforts to end gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF) across Southern Africa. Addressing the Southern Africa Regional Convening on GBV Action Coalition Commitments on Tuesday, Letsike emphasized that the conclusion of the Generation Equality Forum's five-year action period must not be mistaken for the end of the struggle against violence and inequality.
According to South African Government News Agency, Letsike stressed that the true measure of commitments made between 2021 and 2026 will be whether they have been translated into national laws, budgets, and functioning institutions that improve the lived safety, dignity, and freedom of women and girls. She highlighted that while a cycle may close and a commitment may be recorded as completed, the credibility of Generation Equality will be judged by the effectiveness of commitments in transforming social and economic conditions that reproduce violence.
GBVF remains a profound public, constitutional, and developmental concern in South Africa, occurring frequently in intimate relationships and extending its consequences into various societal domains, placing significant social and economic costs on families, communities, and the State. Letsike cited research from the Human Sciences Research Council indicating that 33.1% of women aged 18 and older have experienced physical violence in their lifetime and referenced South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) findings that approximately 60% of women murdered in 2020/21 were killed by an intimate partner.
Addressing GBVF requires more than criminal justice interventions, as violence is influenced by societal norms, economic conditions, institutional cultures, and the State's response quality. Letsike pointed to South Africa's constitutional and policy framework, including the National Strategic Plan on GBVF, which identifies six areas of action: leadership and accountability; prevention and social cohesion; justice, safety and protection; response, care, support and healing; economic empowerment; and research and knowledge management.
The deputy minister highlighted legislative reforms since April 2022, including amendments to laws dealing with domestic violence, sexual offences, bail, sentencing, and complainants' participation in criminal proceedings. However, she warned that laws do not implement themselves, and their effectiveness is ultimately tested through survivors' experiences. Letsike called for interventions in schools, higher education institutions, and workplaces to challenge harmful gender norms and promote dignity, consent, and equality.
Letsike also stressed the need to ensure that services are accessible to survivors, noting the importance of shelters, psychosocial support, healthcare, the Gender-Based Violence Command Centre, Thuthuzela Care Centres, and the criminal justice system. During 2024/25, the National Prosecuting Authority recorded 3697 convictions for sexual offences, while more than 44,000 victims received support through 66 Thuthuzela Care Centres. However, Letsike emphasized that institutional activity must be measured against whether it results in reduced violence, improved access to justice, and safer communities.
She further called for greater recognition of violence experienced by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex (LGBTI), and other people of diverse sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, and sex characteristics. Letsike welcomed the establishment of the National Council on GBVF as an opportunity to strengthen coordination and accountability across government, civil society, and other sectors. She advocated for stronger SADC cooperation on prevention, trafficking, migration, technology-facilitated violence, survivor services, comparable data, and sustainable financing, underscoring the need for cross-border solidarity, knowledge, and accountability.