LISTEN | ‘Men, you don’t own women’: ANC’s Mbalula slams GBV

23 December 2024 - 14:40
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ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula. File photo.
ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula. File photo.
Image: SANDILE NDLOVU

ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula has urged men to stop viewing women as possessions, saying the mentality of thinking they own women because they provide material items contributes to gender-based violence (GBV).

“GBV is happening among us and it is perpetuated by men. It starts with me and you,” Mbalula said.

He said the battle to end GBV must be fought among young men and men must seek emotional help.

“That is where the challenge is. They kill women willy-nilly. The perpetrators must be brought to book,” Mbalula said.

The ANC is committed to supporting survivors and ensuring justice for victims, he added.

Listen to Mbalula:

Recent GBV headlines

Mbalula's comments come after several recent incidents of GBV and femicide made headlines on the heels of the 16 Days of Activism campaign.

Last week a KwaZulu-Natal man, Sibusiso Lawrence, appeared in a chilling video confessing to killing his girlfriend, Nontobeko Cele. Blood was visible on his face as he recorded the confession. At the end of the video, he showed the body of the victim in his car. Cele’s body, which had multiple stab wounds, was discovered in Umzinto on Tuesday.

After the gruesome killing, some people on social media made light of the situation, with apologists shamelessly defending Lawrence’s actions, saying the victim had “caused her own death”.

Days later a KwaZulu-Natal man killed his 22-year-old girlfriend and their three-year-old child before hanging himself. The bodies were discovered on Friday.

The grim picture

Between July and September this year, 957 women were murdered, while 1,567 more women were victims of attempted murder.

From April 2023 to September 2024, the police's family violence, child protection and sexual offences (FCS) unit registered the following:

  • 29,150 GBVF perpetrators were arrested;
  • 556 accused were given life sentences;
  • 480 accused were sentenced to 20 years or more;
  • 998 accused were sentenced to 10-19 years' imprisonment; and
  • 1,792 accused were sentenced to between one and nine years in prison.

TimesLIVE


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