Ramaphosa sets deadlines for case reviews and safety audits after killings of women

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced deadlines for a national review of unresolved crimes against women and children, a plan to reduce forensic backlogs and local safety audits in a televised address on Tuesday, 29 September. The commitments follow the discovery of women’s bodies in Ekurhuleni, east of Johannesburg, and will test whether authorities can move stalled cases forward and address places women say are unsafe.

Ramaphosa acknowledged that the government had not done enough to protect women. According to Mail & Guardian, he directed police and justice officials to conduct a national case-recovery operation covering unresolved murders, attempted murders, rapes and serious sexual offences involving women and children. The National Prosecuting Authority is to be involved with due regard for its independence.

What the 60-day case review must establish

Within 60 days, authorities are to establish how many unresolved cases there are and how long they have been open. They must identify cases awaiting forensic evidence, those in which a suspect has been identified but not arrested, and those where investigative or prosecutorial action has been unreasonably delayed. The order sets a deadline for assessing the cases; it does not mean those cases will be resolved within 60 days.

For priority and stalled cases, individual recovery plans are due within 90 days. Mail & Guardian reports that each plan is meant to identify the remaining work, who is responsible and when it should happen. Those details would give families and the public a clearer basis for judging whether the review leads to action.

How the forensic backlog plan will be measured

Progress on the forensic plan is to be reported publicly each quarter. That requirement concerns future reporting; neither the address nor the accounts of it establish that the backlog has already fallen. Ramaphosa also said the finance minister would allocate additional resources in the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement, according to Mail & Guardian, without specifying an amount in that account.

What municipalities have been ordered to check

Every municipality has been directed to conduct a women’s safety audit within 60 days. The hazards to be identified include broken streetlights, overgrown public spaces, abandoned buildings, unsafe transport routes and poorly secured parks. The most urgent problems are to be fixed within 90 days after the audits or included in funded plans with deadlines. Municipalities are also expected to make their findings and progress public.

Ramaphosa put those practical failures alongside failures in policing and evidence handling. ‘Women should not have to live in fear because government has failed to repair a light, clear a public space, process evidence or enforce a law,’ he said, according to the Guardian. The audits set out work for local authorities, but their effect will depend on what they identify and whether repairs follow.

The Ekurhuleni killings and the limits of the police account

The address came after 11 women’s bodies had been found in Ekurhuleni since July, according to the Guardian and Mail & Guardian. Ramaphosa said police had found no evidence that one perpetrator was responsible for all the killings, while all possibilities remained under investigation. It would be premature to describe the cases as the work of a single killer.

The government’s response to the killings was already under way before Tuesday’s address. Mail & Guardian reports that an emergency response announced on 20 September had elevated a multidisciplinary investigation to national level and increased visible policing. The new address added national deadlines for reviewing unresolved cases, planning forensic work and auditing local hazards.

The alcohol plan and calls for prevention

Ramaphosa gave five ministers 60 days to submit a coordinated package of legislative and enforcement measures aimed at alcohol-related violence. He also called for stronger enforcement against unlicensed liquor outlets and businesses operating beyond permitted hours. He said alcohol neither causes nor excuses gender-based violence and that responsibility always lies with the perpetrator, while describing harmful alcohol use as a factor that can aggravate interpersonal violence.

He urged men to challenge harassment and abuse by relatives, friends and colleagues, arguing that women should not have to change their routes or routines to avoid male violence. ‘It is time for good men to stop being silent men,’ he said, as reported by the Guardian. That appeal accompanied the administrative deadlines rather than replacing them.

Amnesty International South Africa’s executive director, Shenilla Mohamed, said the deadlines would matter only if they produced action and consequences for inaction. Representatives of Sonke Gender Justice argued that the response remained weighted towards what happens after violence and that case processing and safer public spaces did not amount to a comprehensive prevention strategy. Their criticism points to a question the announced audits and case reviews cannot answer on their own: how violence will be prevented.

When the government must report progress

The Inter-Ministerial Committee on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide and the National Council on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide are to monitor implementation. A first consolidated public progress report is due within 90 days, followed by quarterly reports, according to Mail & Guardian and Daily Maverick. Those reports should show whether authorities have completed the promised reviews and plans; the results of the cases and the effect of the measures remain unknown.