In a landmark moment for South Africa, President Cyril Ramaphosa this afternoon formally declared gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF) a second national crisis alongside the existing energy emergency, pledging that the state will now treat the epidemic with the same urgency, coordination and resource mobilisation once reserved for the COVID-19 pandemic.
Speaking to a packed hall of almost 4,000 delegates at the closing ceremony of the Presidential Social Sector Summit at Birchwood Hotel in Ekurhuleni, Ramaphosa received a standing ovation when he announced:
“We in government, having listened to the cries of our people, and recognising the daily plight of our women and children, are now going to classify gender-based violence and femicide as a national crisis that demands an extraordinary national response.”
The declaration means GBVF will trigger immediate activation of special budgetary provisions, accelerated legislative reforms, and the establishment of a dedicated GBVF Emergency Response Council reporting directly to the Presidency.
Ramaphosa did not mince his words about the scale of the crisis. “Every day, women and children are murdered, raped, assaulted and traumatised in their homes, workplaces and communities. This is not just a crime statistic – it is a profound betrayal of the promise of freedom we made in 1994.”
He linked women’s safety directly to economic progress: “This is the century of women. Women must take their rightful place at the forefront of economic growth, innovation and leadership. We cannot build the South Africa we want while half our population lives in fear and the other half is forced to look over their shoulders.”
The three-day summit – the largest gathering of civil society, labour, business, faith-based organisations, traditional leaders and government since the 2022 Social Sector Summit – produced a detailed set of declarations that Ramaphosa formally accepted on stage. These include:
- Immediate allocation of an emergency R5 billion GBVF response fund in the February 2026 budget
- Fast-tracking of the three GBVF-related Bills currently before Parliament
- Mandatory GBV training for all police officers, prosecutors and magistrates within 12 months
- Establishment of 200 additional sexual offences courts by 2028
- A national campaign to change toxic masculinities, starting in schools in 2026
Ramaphosa concluded his address by invoking the memory of Uyinene Mrwetyana, Reeva Steenkamp, Tshegofatso Pule and the thousands of unnamed victims whose deaths galvanised the 2019 #AmINext protests. “Their lives were not in vain,” he said.
“Today we draw a line in the sand. No more. Enough is enough.”
As delegates rose in prolonged applause, the President symbolically handed the summit declarations to Deputy President Paul Mashatile and Minister in the Presidency for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, signalling that implementation starts immediately.
The declaration comes exactly six years after Ramaphosa first signed the National Strategic Plan on GBVF in 2019, a plan widely criticised for slow implementation.
