Endumeni residents will on Friday (November 21) join communities across South Africa in coming to a near standstill as women nationwide prepare for the G20 Women’s Shutdown. The action takes place a day before the G20 Summit, scheduled for Saturday and Sunday.

Local support has grown rapidly, with Queenie Thompson of the Dundee Malibongwe Senior Citizens Cohesion Group saying the campaign speaks directly to the daily realities faced by women in the area.

“Endumeni’s women carry this community every day, yet many carry their pain alone,” Thompson said. “Standing together on November 21 shows that we refuse to be silent any longer.”

Organised by the Women for Change NPO, the shutdown calls on women to withdraw their labour, presence and spending for a day to underline a painful truth: South Africa runs because women do, and the violence they endure can no longer be ignored.

A crisis too large to ignore

The urgency is stark. In just three months, 28,091 women reported domestic-violence-related crimes. That equates to 311 every day, 13 every hour and one every four minutes—excluding the many who suffer in silence.

“These statistics represent mothers, daughters, sisters, friends and colleagues whose lives are devalued in a society struggling to confront the scale of the crisis,” organisers said.

Residents are encouraged to wear purple or black on Friday. At midday, everyone is urged to observe a 15-minute standstill to honour the 15 women murdered in South Africa each day.

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