Ramaphosa to Address Nation on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide

President Cyril Ramaphosa will address South Africans at 7 pm on Tuesday, September 29, 2026, to outline government interventions against gender-based violence and femicide. The national broadcast follows a spate of murders in Ekurhuleni, where the bodies of 11 women have been discovered over the past two months.

Ekurhuleni Murders Intensify Scrutiny on Public Safety

Authorities have confirmed that 11 women have been found dead across the municipality since July. The most recent discovery involved a partially clothed woman whose body was found in an open veld near Rhokana Road in Springs, bearing signs that she had been strangled. Local police confirmed that preliminary findings point to recent homicides across multiple suburbs, including Kempton Park, Olifantsfontein, Kwa-Thema, Dawn Park, and Tembisa.

https://x.com/PresidencyZA/status/2104888437190861036

The Inter-Ministerial Committee on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide previously reported nine bodies recovered by September 20, a figure that climbed to 11 as investigations widened. Law enforcement agencies have cautioned the public against assuming all eleven Ekurhuleni cases are connected, noting that investigators are still working to establish formal links between the individual crime scenes. Parliament’s Police Portfolio Committee echoed that caution earlier in the month, stating that investigators had not yet confirmed a single coordinated serial attacker.

Cabinet Pressures Communities to Break Silence on Abuse

Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni announced the presidential broadcast during a post-Cabinet media briefing, explaining that the administration has spent more than four months monitoring sexual offences and perpetrator patterns. Government officials stress that police intervention alone cannot prevent domestic abuse, highlighting research showing that women face the highest risks from people they know intimately.

Ramaphosa to Address Nation on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide — Photo: thesouthafrican.com

Cabinet has urged families, neighbours, and community members to report domestic abuse immediately. Government leaders maintain that silence inside households makes dangerous situations even worse, appealing for public cooperation to help police arrest and prosecute offenders.

Heritage Day Condemnations Set Stage for National Broadcast

President Ramaphosa first signaled the upcoming address during his Heritage Day keynote speech in Oudtshoorn on September 24. Describing the ongoing violence as a national shame, the President emphasized that women must be able to walk public streets at any hour without fear of attack.

Minister in The Presidency Ms. Khumbudzo Ntshavheni briefs the media.

The pain and suffering that the women of South Africa have been put through stands out as a national shame.

President Ramaphosa, via Gov

The government officially declared gender-based violence and femicide a national disaster on November 20, 2025, a legal classification designed to streamline coordination across state departments. Tuesday night’s address will be broadcast by the SABC and streamed live across digital platforms managed by the Presidency, while the National Assembly prepares to debate the crisis as a matter of national importance.