Gender-based violence, an unjustifiable brutality - South Africa's president

South Africa’s President, Cyril Ramaphosa has condemned violence against women and children in the country.

This comes after a recent spate of murders targeting women and children. According to him, abuse against women and children is a “war” and “brutality that defies comprehension.” All of them are young women who were killed by men.

We will speak for the eighty-nine-year-old grandmother who was killed in an old age home in Queenstown.

“These women are not just statistics, they have names, they have families and they have friends. I am appalled at what is no less than a war being waged against the women and the children of our country.”

He called on the nation to become more active in the fight against gender-based violence.

“By looking away, by discouraging victims from laying charges, by shaming and insulting women for their lifestyle choices or their style of dress, we become complicit in these crimes,” Ramaphosa added.

Murders of women have spiralled since the start of June when lockdown restrictions were loosened according to the police.

However, the causes of the rise is being investigated.