‘GBV must be resolved by us’: Mbalula as Women for Change calls for shutdown

ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula has urged South Africans to take ownership of the fight against gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF), saying the issue must be addressed collectively by the country.

Speaking during a media briefing on the ANC national working committee (NWC) outcomes, Mbalula said the issues would be resolved by the government.

“So if you protest because you want the world to see that we have a challenge called GBV, at the end of the day, fine and good, but that must be resolved by us,” he said.

Mbalula suggested that the ANC would prefer the issue be handled “internally” — not during next week’s G20 Leaders’ Summit in Johannesburg.

“Long after those leaders have left, we must join the movement of GBV,” he said.

This comes as the Women for Change organisation has called for a nationwide shutdown on November 21 to protest against GBVF and demand that it be declared a national disaster.

The shutdown is set to take place a day before the G20 summit, which South Africa will host for the first time at the Nasrec Expo Centre in Johannesburg on November 22 and 23.

Women for Change has called on women and members of the LGBTQI+ community to “withdraw their power” by refraining from all paid and unpaid work for a day — from offices to households — to highlight their social and economic impact.

In a statement, the organisation said: “Until South Africa stops burying a woman every 2.5 hours, the G20 cannot speak of growth and progress. We demand that gender based violence and femicide be declared a national disaster. Not tomorrow. Not at another summit. Now!”

Participants are being encouraged to wear black to signify mourning and resistance and to change their profile pictures to purple to make the shutdown visible online.

As part of the protest, South Africans are being asked to take part in a 15-minute national standstill at noon, lying down wherever they are, be it at work, in school, at malls or in parks, to honour the 15 women murdered every day in the country.

The organisation said a live stream would include a reading of the names of the women being remembered.

Mbalula acknowledged the growing movement, saying the government needed to join in.

“Women for Change are calling for an intervention of a state of emergency, or for GBV to be declared a national disaster. Those are issues that we need to join, because GBV affects us, our families, and everyone else, and there’s nothing wrong about that. There’s nothing that we should be in conflict about,” he said.

“It’s important that we as the ANC will feel free to join that particular movement,” he said.

This comes after the National Disaster Management Centre (NDMC) dismissed a plea to classify GBVF as a national disaster, saying the existing legal framework already addressed the crisis.

Meanwhile, Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi said preparations are well in hand to host the summit.

“We are prepared to offer the world a warm and exceptionally unique experience of our province. Gauteng is ready, zwakala. Let’s make this an experience that we’ll all love,” said Lesufi.

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