Two challenges worsening SA’s gender-based violence (GBV) problem are the domestic nature of the offence and inequalities in the courts’ treatment of offenders and victims.
Advocate Praise Kambula, project manager for the 2018 presidential summit against GBV and femicide and head of the justice, safety and protection pillar of the National Strategic Plan, says GBV can be addressed by amending legislation, but it remains a domestic issue rooted in homes and families.
“During the different stages of lockdown we saw an upward trajectory in rapes perpetrated by and against children," Kambula said.
"We saw a 22% increase in rapes perpetrated by children while they were locked in their homes with their parents. The head of the basic education department told us there was a 60% increase in teenage pregnancies during the time that children were learning at home.
"This tells us that sexual offences are taking place in the home. The poison is at home. People walking in the street belong to a family, so that is where the focus should be,” she said.
A string of brutal attacks on women across SA in 2018 led to national outrage and sparked uprising, the presidential GBV summit.
President Cyril Ramaphosa called for the state to oppose bail in all sexual offences cases and for the national register of GBV offenders to be reformed and possibly made public. He promised proper training and equipment for the police, and urged the country to confront all social values that uphold patriarchy and prevent gender equality.
But a year after the bold promises — and amid continuing reports of violence and atrocities against women — came another defining moment.
On August 24 2019 Uyinene Mrwetyana, 19, a student at the University of Cape Town, was raped and bludgeoned to death when she went to fetch a parcel at her local post office. The crime ignited the #AmINext movement.
It spread across the country, putting pressure on the government — and men in general — to take a hard look at themselves. Mrwetyana became the face of a push to prioritise the safety of women and children.
That same year a survey by market research company Ipsos found that 63% of South Africans believed women should obey their husbands or partners. This means divorce is not an option for many women who want to leave their marriages, even if it is to escape an abusive partner.
The summit declaration led to three pieces of legislation being signed into law earlier this year: the Sexual Offences and Related Matters Act, the Criminal and Related Matters Amendment Act and the Domestic Violence Amendment Act.
The first prohibits a range of acts of sexual violence, including rape and incest, and broadens the definition of these, while also creating a national register of sex offenders.
The problems are not in law. Back in 2012 South Africa was criticised by the UN. They said we had brilliant legislation. And paper law is good, but we are struggling to bridge that gulf between law and action
— Advocate Praise Kambula
The second, Kambula said, came into effect on Friday, and relates to bail provisions. According to that law, bail may no longer be given to those accused of GBV.
“As of today, all cases in which there is a relationship between the accused and the victim have to be considered in a formal court environment," Kambula said. "And if a prosecutor accedes to an accused being granted bail, they are required to give good reasons that focus on the risk to the complainant. As of now, the voice of the complainant will be heard in bail proceedings.”
The third act changes the manner in which courts deal with domestic violence, giving greater rights and protection to survivors, and broadens the definition of domestic violence.
But have these laws had any effect? Are women better protected after the promises made and the work done?
“The problems are not in law. Back in 2012 South Africa was criticised by the UN. They said we had brilliant legislation. And paper law is good, but we are struggling to bridge that gulf between law and action,” Kambula said.
Virginia Keppler of Rea Thusa/We Help believes the system is still failing most women.
“We are at the mercy of politicians and corrupt police officials. And we have Bheki Cele who is a danger to society. Our police minister tells a woman who is reporting a rape that she is lucky she was raped only once,” she said.
“The police here treat women like dirt,” said Keppler, referring to Eersterust, Pretoria, where her NPO operates. She listed a string of cases in which she said women trying to report domestic abuse were victimised by the police.
“One woman went to report an assault and the police official called her a teef (bitch), so she started filming him. He locked her up for two days.
“Another woman was stabbed in the face. She went to the police and they refused to give her a J88 form [the key medico-legal document for cases of assault] and told her to go away. Then her abuser goes to report her for assault and they give him a J88, so she ends up in court before he is even arrested.”
But as Kambula points out, GBV is being tackled, and is not limited to SA.
“We are implementing changes and of course there is motion. But the man in the street, or more the woman in the street, is not yet experiencing that. The fact is that no country in the world has yet come up with the antidote.”
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