Programme Director
MEC for Social Development Mrs Nonhlanhla Khoza
Mayor of eThekwini, Cllr T. Kaunda
Chief Director of the Department of Social Development and all other officials
Honoured Guests
Members of the Media
Ladies and Gentlemen

I greet you all.

We gather this morning to officially launch the social workers programme aimed at fighting one of the biggest challenges faced by our province and the country – the scourge of Gender-Based Violence.

The scourge of Gender-Based Violence has escalated to unprecedented levels in the province and requires us to strengthen our focus on changing attitudes and promoting positive behavioural change among men.

Statistics have shown that this province tops the list when it comes to violence perpetrated against women and children and this goes against the spirit of Ubuntu and points to something that has gone horribly wrong with the moral fibre of our society.

In the province alone, among 886 people who were killed last year were 665 women, 130 boys and 91 girls. We were followed by the Eastern Cape which recorded the deaths of 730 women and children, Gauteng with 657 and the Western Cape with 649.

During this period crimes against women were up 11% with 2 930 killed. Sexual offences were slightly down by 1.7% for a total 36 731 cases while attempted murder was up 6.7%, assault with intent by 2.5% and common assault by 4%.

Our province was second in the list of sexual offences with figures up 3.2% from last year to 8759 cases, behind Gauteng's 10116. Inanda topped the stations for the worst record of sexual crimes with 330 cases while Umlazi was third in the country with 290.

This province was also second in the rape table with figures up 3% to 7243 behind Gauteng's 8062. Again Inanda topped the table as the precinct with the most rapes reported with 278. Umlazi was next at 252 while Empangeni in northern KZN came in at nine on the table with 186 registered cases.

The top 10 contributing police stations contributing to crime against women are Umlazi, Inanda, Plessislaer, Ntuzuma, Empangeni, Ladysmith, KwaMashu, KwaDukuza, Chatsworth. The top 10 contributing police stations for crime against children are Inanda, Umlazi, Mountain Rise, Ntuzuma, Plessislaer, Empangeni, Phoenix, Osizweni and Madadeni.

Programme Director, this is a serious cause for concern. The rise of Gender-Based Violence and Femicide shows that some men have lost of Ubuntu. This calls for us a government and all other stakeholders to double our efforts to deal with this scourge which has become a nightmare.

That is why I would like to applaud the Department of Social Development for launching this programme today which is, in fact, long overdue.

In September last year, His Excellency President Cyril Ramaphosa confirmed the country’s commitment to addressing Gender-Based Violence and Femicide in response to social activism across the country against the inadequate response to the scourge.

He announced the roll out of immediate measures to fast track a more medium term approach to addressing Gender-Based Violence and Femicide to be captured in the National Strategic Plan.

Ladies and Gentlemen, there is certainly no doubt that Gender-Based Violence and Femicide have reached such alarming proportions that it requires an urgent and rapid response. We cannot sit on our laurels when we are faced with such a crisis of national proportions.

This scourge requires agility, responsiveness and capability to fast-track, monitor and assess potential and actual impact of all action taken in implementation of the emergency response plan.

During his State of the Nation Address, President Ramaphosa pronounced the finalization of the National Strategic Plan on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide by 31 March 2020 which will culminate in the Provincial Strategic Plans on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide.

In recognizing the centrality of preventing Gender-Based violence, the Province of KwaZulu-Natal has developed the Multi-Disciplinary Provincial Programme of Action on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide to provide a cohesive strategic framework to guide the provincial response as an overarching programme for prevention, education, empowerment, response, care and support on gender based violence.

The Action Plan intends to provide synergy and alignment of programmes and the creation of a sustainable well-resourced implementation and oversight mechanism for Gender-Based Violence. The Plan is linked to the Emergency Plan announced by the President as well as the Moral Regeneration and Social Cohesion Programme.

As a province, we are using Operation Sukuma Sakhe at local and district level as a machinery for service delivery. The Programme of Action for Gender-Based Violence would need to be institutionalized in the same manner.

A nerve centre has been established to ensure that there is integrated reporting and management of Gender-Based Violence cases.

The plan is based on four critical pillars, namely: prevention, education and awareness, strengthening the criminal justice system, ensuring adequate care, support and healing for victims and strengthening the economic empowerment of women. The notable achievements in terms of the pillars thus far are as follows:

The MEC for Social Development launched 16 Days of Activism on no violence against women and children in Kwa Xolo, Ward 8, in Ray Nkonyeni local municipality, reaching 1000 community members.

The Deputy Minister of Justice hosted a Dialogue in Chatsworth on 11 December where he addressed the community on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide.

Dialogue with people with disabilities was held on 29 November 2019 with participation from DSD, DCS and NPA at the Durban exhibition centre.

The MEC for COGTA and local leadership held a Social Cohesion Programme that engaged Amakhosi and Izinduna through a dialogue to discuss social ills and possible solutions to the escalation of social problems and Gender-Based Violence their areas.

As a province, we must stand together and I request that each role-player ensure that there is commitment from their respective departments in ensuring that the plan of action for Gender-Based Violence is implemented. The strategic employment and placement of the 183 social workers will assist the province in the fight against Gender-Based Violence.

The expectation is that the social workers must respond to Gender-Based Violence cases with urgency which will contribute to the support and healing of victims.

Programme Director, on Saturday the Department of Social Development also hosted the Boys Assembly in Mandeni which is about nurturing our boys and build them to become stronger men and to teach them that they don’t need to be violent to become man enough.

The honest truth is that Gender-Based Violence only thrives amongst men with a very low self-esteem. A real man in the true sense of the word cannot beat, kill and rape a woman. A real man is expected to everything to protect, not harm a woman.

Therefore, the Boys Assembly seeks to mould a new man who respects society’s norms and values. These values mean that men and women are equal at home, on the streets, at school and before the law. We want new type of men who are bold, kind and empathetic to their inner being as a people born of a woman.

During his address to the nation on public and gender-based violence last year, President Ramaphosa bemoaned how the killings of women and children had caused great pain and outrage because acts of brutality have become all too common in our communities. He described violence against women as a crime against our common humanity.

Let’s use every means at our disposal to fight the scourge of gender-based violence and the launch of this programme today is a clarion call to all of us; government, churches, police, traditional leaders and all other stakeholders to put an end to this reprehensible brutality against our women.

We invite the creatives of KZN to also lend a hand to utilise their talents to end this epidemic.

We call on youth formations, civil society, and the media to rise once more to end this stain on our freedom.

We call on parents to raise girl and boy children as equals.

Everyone has a role to end patriarchy.

Working together, we can create a KZN that is free of violence against women and build one where the dignity of women is respected.

It is for this reason that this government advances the economic empowerment of women and the education and skilling of young girls so that we reduce their vulnerability to gender based violence.

Once again, thank you for organising this crucial engagement.

Let Us Grow KwaZulu-Natal.

I thank you.