BMW donates five cars to NGO fighting gender-based violence in SA

05 February 2020 - 19:03 By Rethabile Radebe
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President Cyril Ramaphosa and German chancellor Angela Merkel will be among the guests at a handover ceremony at the BMW plant in Rosslyn, Tshwane on Thursday.
President Cyril Ramaphosa and German chancellor Angela Merkel will be among the guests at a handover ceremony at the BMW plant in Rosslyn, Tshwane on Thursday.
Image: Axel Schmidt/Reuters

German automaker BMW will on Thursday hand over five i3 cars to the South African Business Coalition on Health and Aids (Sabcoha) in a bid to curb the scourge of gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF) in the country.

President Cyril Ramaphosa and German chancellor Angela Merkel will be among the guests at the handover ceremony at the BMW Group production plant in Rosslyn, Tshwane.

In a statement, the presidency said the cars "will be used to support community-based care workers in their work to prevent violence and support victims".

The country has been grappling with how to resolve GBVF, with women and concerned members of society forcing government's hand to prioritise putting an end to violence against vulnerable groups.

Women across the country staged #TotalShutdown demonstrations in 2018 and in 2019 called on the government to change the law to deter abuse against women and children.  

Victims of GBVF also implored businesses listed on the JSE to play their part in kicking abuse to the curb when women marched to the JSE last year.

In an attempt to resolve the problem, Ramaphosa pledged R1bn for an action plan aimed at fighting GBV.

Due to the extent of the issue, Ramaphosa also held a national gender summit, where he received recommendations from SA women and allies on what needs to be done to end the scourge.


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