Breaking News by Michael Nkalane:
South Africa sets up specialist team to crack femicide cases
11 women killed in Gender-Based related incidents
A specialised multidisciplinary team has been deployed to investigate the 11 murders reported in Ekurhuleni and other parts of the country in South Africa amid growing concern over the recent spate of femicide cases.
The team will comprise of detectives, crime intelligence, forensic specialists, investigative psychologists, digital investigators, and other specialised capabilities.
This is in response to the recent Gender-Based Violence (GBV) incidents that engulfed South Africa in which 11 women were killed in Ekurhuleni since July.
Addressing the nation on live television, President Cyril Ramaphosa said: “The violence inflicted upon the women of South Africa is a source of profound pain and national shame.
“The nation is angry. The women of South Africa are angry. Their anger is justified. I share that anger. I share the grief at lives so cruelly and senselessly cut short.”
Thirty-eight-year old Dineo Motapane’s battered and partly burned body was among those found in Ekurhuleni.
However, opposition political parties and civil rights movements have called these proposed measures “belated, repetitive, and detached” from the realities faced by women.
Democratic Alliance leader Geordin Hill-Lewis stated that Ramaphosa has been announcing emergency responses to GBVF since 2019 without producing meaningful change.
He said any new announcements must be judged on implementation rather than what he termed “empty election promises”.
Action SA president Herman Mashaba echoed these sentiments, describing the President’s address as a delayed attempt to manage the consequences of a hollowed-out criminal justice system.
He warned that South African Police Services detectives are already overwhelmed and lack the capacity to process cold cases.
Amnesty International South Africa executive director Shenilla Mohamed noted that the four immediate measures announced by the President come “seven years too late”.
She called for the mandated case audits to be made public and urged the government to formally codify femicide as a specific crime to ensure accurate tracking. “South Africa does not suffer from a shortage of legal frameworks, but rather a severe failure to consistently enforce them and hold non-compliant municipalities and officials accountable,” said Mohamed.
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