Premier leads march against GBV
The KZN Premier Thami Ntuli said the fight against gender-based discrimination should be championed throughout the year because women and children are not abused just in December.
Depriving women of money as the heads of households is a form of gender-based violence (GBV).
This was a sentiment shared by the Premier of KZN, Thami Ntuli, at the Ugu Sports and Leisure Centre in Gamalakhe on Tuesday last week.
Ntuli said this when he led a march to mark the end of the 16 Days of Activism for No Violence against Women and Children campaign.
He said men do not work for themselves but work for their wives and children, saying that their money belongs to their families.
The Premier said they decided to close off the campaign in the Ugu District as the region is plagued with gruesome cases of GBV and femicide.
Ntuli said the fight against gender-based discrimination should be something that is championed throughout the year, saying that women and children are not abused just in December but throughout the year.
“We are currently training Saps officers to deal with this scourge 365 days a year. Violence against women and children is in every corner of the province. If we fold our hands, these ‘animals’ will continue killing women and children,” he said.
The KZN Department of Social Development’s MEC, Mbali Shinga, said Ugu has GBV cases that stress them the most.
She said these cases are mostly found in Mtwalume under Umzumbe Municipality and Izingolweni under Ray Nkonyeni Municipality.
Meanwhile, the Premier said they urge victims to seek help.
He said there are men in society who are not worthy to be called fathers and are not fit to live in a society filled with women.
“Don’t be quiet when you are being abused. Also, do not withdraw a case that you opened against someone who abuses you. We can beat this pandemic if we unite with all stakeholders of society. We also urge members of the community to be vocal when they witness acts of abuse being committed against women and children. Silence encourages perpetrators of GBV to commit these crimes further,” he said.
During the march, LifeLine and Rape Crisis director Sinikiwe Biyela handed over a memorandum to Premier Ntuli that outlined areas the provincial government needs to focus on when addressing issues of violence against women and children.
Biyela told Ntuli that the province needs to have a functional DNA laboratory so that it will be easier to analyse samples and solve rape cases.
“All stakeholders must be accountable when it comes to teenage pregnancies. We also want conditions of bail to include built-in warrants of arrests for alleged perpetrators of GBV,” she said
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