MINISTER in the Presidency for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma will lead the debate on the National Council on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide Bill on Tuesday, 31 October.
The council, made up of government and civil society representation, aims to foster collaboration in addressing gender-based violence and femicide effectively.
The council, as mandated by the South African Constitution, emphasises the urgent need to combat this scourge.
The bill was tabled with two other bills in Parliament to help protect women and they were referred to the portfolio committee on 11 October 2022 for information.
Citizens were given an opportunity to make comments and changes.
President Cyril Ramaphosa mentioned in one of his weekly newsletters that the bill was because of the public protests that started in 2019, following the deaths of University of Cape Town student Uyinene Mrwetyana, University of the Western Cape student Jesse Hess, boxing champion Leighandre Jegels, Tshegofatso Pule and many other women who died at the hands of men.
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“The women of South Africa have had enough of lukewarm actions that do not address one of the most fundamental rights — to live in freedom of fear,” he said at the time.
The portfolio committee, representing diverse political parties, overwhelmingly endorsed this bill, showing a unified commitment to eradicate the GBV scourge.
It will co-ordinate a multi-sectoral approach, set priorities, and promote information exchange to create a society free from violence and discrimination, marking a significant step toward eliminating these problems in South Africa.
The amendment recognises sexual intimidation as an official offence, which it had not done before.
This means that if you are threatened by someone’s behaviour towards you, verbally or otherwise, you can report it and seek legal action.
The debate will form part of the second reading debate where Parliament will vote on the bill.
