Durban - While commemorating national Women’s Day, both the Helen Suzman Foundation (HSF) and the DA paid tribute to the women who marched to the Union Buildings in Pretoria to fight the pass laws, but said 66 years later the country’s women were dealing with another battle – to fight gender-based violence (GBV).
The HSF said that although the country celebrates National Women’s day, there is much for women to mourn, due to the high levels of GBV.
Nicole Fritz, director of the HSF, said that Women’s Day sought to honour those who had fought for an equal and democratic South Africa. Fritz added that among those women were Lillian Ngoyi, Helen Joseph, Sophia Williams de-Bruyn, Rahima Moosa, Charlotte Maxeke, Annie Silinga, Ruth First, Cissy, Jaynab and Amina Gool, Amina Pahad, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, Elizabeth Mafikeng, Elizabeth Abrahams and Helen Suzman.
She added, however, that for South African women today there is much to mourn.
Fritz said the high number of reported GBV cases indicates that women still lack freedom in South Africa., like the women from 1956.
“The high levels of GBV in our country today, as evident in recent horrific reports, mean that for far too many women, the rights to freedom and security of person, bodily integrity and dignity exist only as aspiration, as the concept of a free and democratic South Africa did then.”
Fritz added that National Women’s Day should not only be a day of historical observance.
“It must be a call to action for as long as the threat of GBV consumes almost every aspect of women’s lives; in schools, in the workplace, in public and in our own homes.”
The DA’s national spokesperson, Siviwe Gwarube, agreed that in 2022, South African women have a different fight on their hands.
“A war has been declared against the women of this country. The war rages on; our bodies used as battle fields.
“While the rest of the world is grappling with issues of gender representation or equal pay, we are stuck in a hell-loop, begging for our lives to be spared,” she said.
She added that while President Cyril Ramaphosa introduced a GBV Council to tackle violence against women, nothing had been done.
“If the president and his Cabinet are serious about the safety of women, then DNA sample backlogs must be cleared now! There is nothing to celebrate if women cannot be safe in their homes and in their communities,” said Gwarube.