EDITORIAL | Difficult questions still need answers in fight against GBV

In 2019, the nameUyinene Mrwetyanabecame a rallying cry, a symbol of grief, and a mirror held up to a society that could no longer look away from the pervasive violence faced by women in SA. Seven years on, her name still echoes with painful clarity. It once again reverberated during a public lecture at her alma mater, Kingswood College, a few days ago.

The annual lecture is not only a moment of remembrance, it is an indictment of how much remains unchanged. Ours is a country of paradoxes: we have adequate pieces of legislation and are good at making profound pronouncements but fall flat at implementation. Gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF) is no exception.

Every year, in the last week of November, the country launches 16 Days of Activism for No Violence against Women and Children with a lot of promises to fight GBVF. In 2022, President Cyril Ramaphosa signed three laws to deal with the pandemic: Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act; the Domestic Violence Amendment Act; and the Criminal and Related Matters Amendment Act. In 2025, the government declared GBVF a national disaster.

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We gather, we light candles, we speak the victims’ names — but do we confront the deeper truths? Sadly, as guest speaker at this year’s Uyinene commemoration, Bishop Pumla Nzimande pointed out that the country has still not experienced the fruit of that declaration. Commemorations, just like our great laws, risk becoming rituals of comfort rather than catalysts for change.

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