KZN Premier Sihle Zikalala has appealed to communities to take an uncompromising stand against violence directed at women and children.

Speaking at the provincial launch of the 16 Days Campaign of No Violence Against Women and Children in Mtubatuba recently, Zikalala recounted cases of gruesome violence and murder of women and children.

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‘The media is flooded by stories of violent attacks on women, young and old, in rural and urban areas.

‘The killing of women and children is a scourge affecting the country.’

Zikalala said the police were implementing what was called a stabilisation plan, which is part of the province’s turnaround strategy launched in October last year and which has been extended to 31 March 2021.

‘Promoting awareness of the harmful impact of alcohol abuse among the youth is one of the priorities of the plan.

‘This is coupled with the adult education and responsible trader facilitation programmes which call for responsible alcohol trading,’ Zikalala said.

‘We are aware that gender-based violence still persists and it will take all of us working together over time to eventually get rid of the scourge.

Against this background the campaign in KZN will continue all 365 days of the year. It is not women who must change, but the men who abuse and rape.

‘This year we launched the 16 Days Campaign under the theme ‘Women’s economic justice for a non-violent and non-sexist South Africa‘.

‘This theme is supported by the national call to action themed ‘Working together to build a society where morality takes prevalence‘.

‘This compels us to recognise that gender-based violence thrives in conditions of gender inequality and the economic marginalisation of women. To eliminate this national crisis, it means we must put the economic emancipation of women at the centre of all our programmes,’ said Zikalala.

‘As we are all aware, an emergency action plan to deal with the scourge of gender-based violence was launched by government, allocating R1.6-billion for the purpose of improving access to justice for survivors of violence and prevention campaigns to change attitudes and behaviour.

‘In addition, we will support the three amendment bills currently serving in Parliament, aimed at closing the gaps that allow perpetrators of gender-based violence to evade justice, and to give full effect to the rights of the country’s women and children.

‘We encourage people to speak out, law enforcement to arrest and the prosecutors to prosecute the perpetrators.

‘We will turn this tide of shame in our province. As a society we must stand up and say ‘no more’.

‘We must ensure that concrete actions are taken to end the scourge of gender-based violence,’ said Zikalala.

He said as a long-term response, women should be empowered economically to lessen their dependence on men.

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