GBVF: When will a national crisis produce a national response? - IOL

Elizabeth “Tsontso” Moselakgomo, a member of the Team Vitality running community, was among the women whose bodies have been discovered in the Ekurhuleni area recently. A religious organisation is calling for accountability as the killings expose the growing gap between government commitments on gender-based violence and femicide and actual outcomes.

Seven women.  Seven bodies now forming part of an expanding police investigation in Ekurhuleni. And once again South Africans are being told that “no stone will be left unturned”.

We welcome President Cyril Ramaphosa’s instruction that these cases be prioritised. Every available resource should be directed towards establishing the facts, identifying the perpetrator or perpetrators and bringing those responsible to justice.

We extend our deepest condolences to every family mourning a daughter, mother, sister, relative or friend. But alongside our grief, South Africa must confront an uncomfortable question: 

A national crisis was declared.  Extraordinary action was called for. Yet Parliament subsequently questioned where the additional resources were, while specialised structures responsible for investigating violence against women continued to operate under severe constraints. Now, after the discovery of multiple women’s bodies, the nation once again hears that “no stone will be left unturned”.

The question is no longer whether government understands the seriousness of gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF). The question is whether the political will to defeat it has actually been operationalised. Political will cannot only be measured by statements issued after women have been murdered. It must be measured by budgets allocated, detectives deployed, Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS) units strengthened, forensic backlogs cleared, evidence processed, survivors supported, perpetrators successfully prosecuted and, ultimately, women kept alive.

Declarations do not investigate crime scenes. Speeches do not process DNA. Statements do not recruit specialised detectives. Promises do not prosecute perpetrators. Political will is not demonstrated by what government says after women are killed.  Political will is demonstrated by what government builds before the next woman is killed. That is why the president’s words – “leave no stone unturned” – must now be accompanied by a much more difficult question: do the detectives tasked with turning over those stones actually have the people, vehicles, forensic capacity, intelligence, specialist support and resources necessary to do it? If the answer is no, then the problem confronting South Africa is considerably greater than the investigation currently unfolding in Ekurhuleni. It means we have declared an emergency without adequately equipping the institutions expected to respond to it.

Why does decisive intervention so often appear to follow tragedy instead of preventing it?

November 2025: Ramaphosa declared GBVF a “national crisis”, requiring “extraordinary and concerted action” and the use of every means at the country’s disposal.

February 2026: Parliament’s own committees were still demanding clarity on how the national GBVF disaster response would be funded. Parliament asked a fundamental question: what practical difference does declaring a disaster make if there is no demonstrable shift in resources?

May 2026: Following an unannounced oversight visit to the specialised FCS Unit in Nyanga, the Chairperson of Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Police described the situation as “a near collapse of the system”. The unit faced severe resource shortages, including a lack of essential rape kits.

September 2026: We are counting the bodies of women in Ekurhuleni. This is the discrepancy South Africa can no longer afford to ignore:

The South African Community of Faith-Based Fraternals & Federations (SACOFF) is calling for accountability as the killings of women expose the growing gap between government commitments on gender-based violence and femicide and actual outcomes, writes its president, Pastor Bert Pretorius..

When GBVF is classified as a national crisis and disaster, South Africans reasonably expect something to change. There should be urgency that can be seen, resources that can be measured, additional capacity that reaches police stations and specialised units as well as improved forensic turnaround times. We should see better support for survivors, stronger investigative capacity and greater prosecutorial effectiveness and clear accountability for whether any of it is working. This is particularly important because Parliament itself raised concerns in February about the absence of clarity regarding additional funding. The 2026 Budget subsequently included a R5 billion contingency reserve relating to disasters declared since the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement. However, this should not be misrepresented as a R5 billion fund exclusively earmarked for GBVF. That makes transparency even more important. Government should tell South Africans clearly: What additional funding has specifically followed the GBVF disaster classification? Where has it gone? What additional capacity has been created? And what measurable outcomes have resulted?

Civil society, community and faith-based organisations working with victims and vulnerable communities should not have to search for answers to these questions. If this is genuinely a whole-of-society response, then those organisations must know how the response is structured, where resources are being directed and how credible community organisations can participate.

There is another uncomfortable reality that cannot be ignored.  South Africa is moving towards another local government election cycle. That makes it even more important that the suffering of women is never reduced to political theatre, electioneering or an opportunity for competing political interests to settle scores. The murder of women must never become political currency. The South African Community of Faith-Based Fraternals and Federations (SACOFF) is not interested in party political point-scoring. We are interested in whether women live. We will commend government when it acts effectively. We will challenge government when systems fail. And we will apply that standard regardless of which political party occupies office. Because GBVF has no political affiliation, and neither should our determination to defeat it. A national disaster cannot be managed through periodic bursts of urgency whenever another horrific case captures the nation’s attention. It requires sustained operational capacity every day — when television cameras are present and when they are not.

WHAT IS HAPPENING INSIDE OUR CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM?

These questions become even more urgent against the backdrop of what South Africans are hearing through the Madlanga Commission. The commission is examining extraordinarily serious allegations concerning criminality, political interference and corruption within the criminal justice system.

More than 100 witnesses have given evidence since its public hearings began, and the Commission has made recommendations and referrals for further investigation. We must be responsible in how we speak about these matters.  South Africans cannot pretend that what is emerging is not deeply disturbing. The allegations of criminal infiltration, organised criminal networks, corruption, tender manipulation, political interference and compromised elements within law-enforcement structures strike directly at public confidence in the institutions charged with protecting society. Even government has acknowledged the disturbing trend of organised crime and syndicate activity involving corruption and tender fraud within government structures, contract killings and violent syndicates. This creates a frightening question: What happens when the institutions women are told to trust for protection are themselves struggling with questions of capacity, corruption and institutional integrity?

This is no longer merely an administrative concern. It becomes a question of public trust. And nowhere is that trust more important than for a woman walking into a police station after being assaulted, raped, threatened or stalked. She must know that her complaint matters. She must know that evidence will be preserved. She must know that the necessary forensic equipment is available. She must know that her docket will be properly investigated. She must know that the detective handling her case has the competence, time and resources to pursue it. And she must know that no criminal network, political connection, corrupt official or institutional failure is more powerful than the law that exists to protect her.

We appreciate the president’s concern for the families affected by the killings in Ekurhuleni. But condolences must be accompanied by capacity. Declarations must be accompanied by implementation. Budgets must reach the frontline. Investigations must lead to arrests. Arrests must lead to competent prosecutions. And government commitments must produce measurable outcomes. A national crisis requires a national response — not only a national statement.

Every one of these women had a name. Every one had dignity. Every one was somebody’s daughter, sister, mother, friend or colleague. Their deaths cannot simply become another statistic that temporarily captures national attention before South Africa moves on.

Government carries a constitutional responsibility that cannot be delegated to the Church or civil society.  But government cannot defeat GBVF alone.  Churches and faith communities encounter its consequences every day. We counsel survivors. We comfort children. We support broken families. We bury victims. We work in communities where government services are often stretched beyond capacity. Faith communities therefore cannot merely be called upon after tragedy to provide comfort. We must become serious partners in prevention, early intervention, community mobilisation, survivor support, strengthening families and rebuilding communities.

The Church must also examine itself. We must teach men and boys that strength is never demonstrated through domination or violence. We must create environments in which women can speak without fear. We must refuse to protect perpetrators because of status, position or reputation. And where criminal conduct is alleged, pastoral care can never become a substitute for reporting crime and allowing the justice system to do its work.

SACOFF therefore calls for transparent public accounting of the national GBVF response. South Africans deserve to know what changed after GBVF was classified as a national disaster. What additional resources were mobilised?  How many specialised detectives have been added? What is the current capacity of FCS units? What progress has been made in addressing forensic and DNA delays? How are survivors being supported? How is corruption within policing being confronted? What mechanisms ensure that money intended to strengthen the response actually reaches the frontline? And most importantly:

Are women safer today than they were when the national crisis was declared? Those questions are not an attack on government. They are the questions responsible citizenship demands of government. Accountability is not opposition. Accountability is democracy.

SACOFF stands ready to work with government, SAPS, the criminal justice system, civil society and communities in confronting this crisis. But partnership cannot mean silence. Our responsibility as faith leaders includes speaking for human dignity, justice, accountability and the sanctity of human life. And so, as another family receives the devastating news that a woman they loved will never return home, we ask the question South Africa should never become accustomed to asking: Must we witness further fatalities before the State intervenes with the scale, resources and resolve that this pandemic demands?

If gender-based violence and femicide is truly a national crisis and a national disaster, then let our response look like one. South Africa’s women do not need another declaration of urgency. They need the urgency already declared to become reality.

* Pastor Bert Pretorius is President of the South African Community of Faith-Based Fraternals and Federations (SACOFF).

** The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of IOL or National Media Group.