At least nine women were brutally slain in recent days, sparking outrage.
Proteas captain Temba Bavuma says they will need to keep scoring big, while also picking up more wickets, if they want to do well in the Champions Trophy in Pakistan. Picture: Grant Pitcher/Gallo Images
Proteas cricket captain Temba Bavuma has spoken out forcefully against the ongoing killings of women in South Africa, warning that fear and panic are gripping households and urging leaders to move beyond conversations to decisive action.
At least nine women were brutally slain in recent days, sparking outrage, marches, and urgent calls for police and government action as specialised units intensify investigations.
Authorities on Thursday confirmed that specialised detectives and national units have been deployed to investigate whether the killings were carried out by one perpetrator or multiple attackers.
‘Disturbing and scary’
Speaking at his foundation’s golf day on Thursday, which marked a decade of giving back to the less fortunate, Bavuma described the current wave of gender‑based violence as “disturbing” and “scary.”
“I was gonna use the adjective ‘sad,’ but I think that’s an understatement. It’s actually put a lot of people in panic mode, not just females,” Bavuma told eNCA.
He shared a personal moment that underscored the crisis
“I got back home yesterday, and my missus had a taser gun. You can see the fear and the panic that our females have. I don’t know what really can be done, but it’s real.”
GBV
Bavuma reflected on the national declaration of GBV as a crisis, questioning whether enough is being done to change mindsets:
“GBV was declared a national crisis. But what needs to be done to really shift the mindsets of our people? It’s not a good state of affairs.”
He acknowledged traditional expectations of men as providers but admitted: “I think we are failing there. A lot needs to be done systematically, more than just the conversations that are happening.”
His remarks added a powerful voice from the sporting world to the national outcry, reinforcing the urgency of tackling gender‑based violence with concrete measures.
Amnesty
Meanwhile, Amnesty International South Africa has urged the state to recognise femicide as a distinct crime, warning that failure to do so leaves women unprotected.
“Every day that femicide remains unrecognised as a crime is a failure to confront the targeted killing of women,” Executive Director Shenilla Mohamed said
According to Amnesty International, South Africa records one of the highest femicide rates globally, with 5 578 women murdered between 2023/2024 – about 15 women every day.
While 33 countries criminalise femicide, only Gabon and Morocco do so in Africa. Currently, killings of women are categorised simply as murder, obscuring the gendered motivation behind them.
Femicide
Mohamed stressed that criminalising femicide would expose the drivers of violence, from intimate partner abuse to stalking, and compel the state to allocate resources and track cases properly.
She warned that the Saps has failed to publish disaggregated crime data since August 2025, undermining accountability.
“Reliable data is not a technical detail; it is a prerequisite for accountability,” Mohamed said. “Not only are men killing women and girls, but the state is allowing it to happen.”
Amnesty said that femicide is the most extreme form of violence against women, and recognising it as a crime is essential to confronting inequality and protecting lives.
