During President Cyril Ramaphosa’s address to the nation on Wednesday, 17 June 2020, he highlighted that there is “another pandemic that is raging in our country,” as 21 women and children have been murdered in recent weeks.
The country has among the highest levels of intimate partner violence in the world.
According to the latest statistics from the South African Police Service, an average of nearly 58 people are murdered every day, of these one woman is murdered every three hours. The death of 27-year-old Altecia Kortjie and her 7-year-old daughter in Cape Town on 12 June; and the horrific incident of 28-year-old Tshegofatso Pule and her unborn baby, who was stabbed and hung from a tree, has gripped South Africa.
Amidst the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic, the youth of Port Elizabeth, and other cities, have taken to the streets to make known their stance on gender-based violence. #FillUpStandford, has made waves on social media, getting the city of Port Elizabeth to stand together against gender-based violence in the city’s main road. Many men and women from around the city turned up for the event. The initiative now takes place every Saturday between 10am and 12pm, and they are urging more men to take to the streets.
