By Bhekizenzo Zonele
Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi has unveiled a provincial action plan to tackle gender-based violence and femicide, including tighter monitoring of police stations, audits of unsafe public spaces and increased support for victims and shelters.
The plan follows President Cyril Ramaphosa’s address to the nation on Tuesday, in which he announced measures to strengthen the government’s response to GBVF.
Speaking at a media briefing on Friday, Lesufi said the provincial government was moving from commitments to implementation.
“We are moving from talk to action,” Lesufi said.
The provincial plan will be coordinated through an intergovernmental mechanism involving the provincial government, municipalities and national government structures.
The province said the mechanism would coordinate the delivery, reporting and escalation of GBVF-related interventions.
Eleven municipalities participated in the process.
One of Gauteng’s immediate priorities will be auditing police stations, including their handling of dockets, protection orders, infrastructure and victim-support services.
“As Gauteng we have now taken a decision to execute police station audits to determine SAPS action plans and audit infrastructure needs so that full services are available to citizens,” Lesufi said.
Lesufi said 10 police stations with high numbers of rape cases had been prioritised. They are Ivory Park, Roodepoort, Alexandra, Mamelodi East, Diepsloot, Atteridgeville, Kagiso, Reiger Park, Meadowlands and Tembisa.
“If we can’t put additional resources in terms of policing, victim empowerment and all related issues that we have raised here, including the dockets in these 10 police stations, we would have failed the call the president has given us,” Lesufi said.
The province also plans to increase the number of GBV desks from 145 and expand its network of Green Doors, which provide places of safety and support to victims. Gauteng currently has 133 Green Doors.
The measures come after a recent wave of killings of women in Ekurhuleni.
Ramaphosa has instructed municipalities to conduct women’s safety audits focusing on risky transport routes, overgrown areas, abandoned houses and broken streetlights.
Lesufi said Gauteng municipalities had committed to submitting audits of broken streetlights, overgrown areas, unoccupied land and other unsafe locations within seven days.
The government has previously established a geo-located unsafe-spaces register to identify areas requiring intervention.
Lesufi said Gauteng would also establish a committee that would meet every Wednesday to track and measure progress on the GBVF directives.
Gauteng provincial police commissioner Lieutenant-General Tommy Mthombeni said three of the 12 cases being investigated in connection with the recent killings had been resolved, with matters involving Dawn Park and Kempton Park progressing through the courts.
Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni cautioned against prematurely linking the killings to a serial killer, saying investigators were pursuing the available evidence.
She said people had been arrested in cases linked to the killings and that the cases shared a common feature in that the victims were allegedly killed by people close to them.
“Police will not be in our bedroom. Police will not be in our kitchens. Police can only police outside our yards,” Ntshavheni said.
She also highlighted the Gender-Based Violence Command Centre, which averaged 368 calls a day in August, and urged families and communities to report cases of abuse.
Lesufi said the province would use the upcoming 16 Days of Activism period to provide further updates on its implementation plans.
The provincial interventions are being developed alongside Ramaphosa’s national directives, which include a 60-day audit of unresolved GBVF cases, measures to address forensic backlogs and municipal safety audits.
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