As South Africa continues to grapple with the scourge of gender-based violence and femicide, the Minister of Social Development, Ms Nokuzola Sisisi Tolashe will tomorrow, Thursday 05 December, host a community dialogue in Jozini Local Municipality, KwaZulu-Natal. The community dialogue, which will focus on the impact of gender-based violence and femicide on families.

The community dialogue is targeting to reach five hundred ordinary members of the public and community leaders, including chiefs, village heads and religious leaders to create awareness and influence attitudes and behaviours towards gender-based violence and femicide. The community dialogue comes as KZN provincial police released a shocking report that highlights the scale of gender-based violence in South Africa.

Yesterday, 3 December the provincial police reported the arrest of 235 suspects for rape, 227 suspects for the transgression of the Domestic Violence and 39 more suspects were arrested for sexual assault-related crimes in KZN alone. Jozini is one of the areas where women and girls have been terrorised by a serial rapist until his recent arrest by police. These figures corroborate the recent findings of South Africa’s first-ever study on gender-based violence conducted by the Human Sciences Research Council.

The study found that about 9,9% of men indicated that when a woman is raped, she is to be blamed for putting herself in that situation while over 77% of men agreed with a statement of controlling behaviour. The dialogues seek to address these and other socio-cultural determinants of gender-based violence by mobilising communities across the country.

The community dialogues align with the recently launched partnership initiative between Social Development and Ubuntu Transformation Foundation—Fireside Conversations One Million Men Pledge Against Gender-Based Violence and Femicide. The objective of this initiative is to provide a non-judgmental space for men to share their personal experience and reflect on key issues such as toxic masculinities, traditional norms that foster gender inequality, the culture of silence among men and harmful gender stereotypes and to mobilise men from all walks of life across the country as agents of change against gender-based violence and femicide.

The community dialogues form part of this year’s 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children Campaign and central to the implementation of the National Strategic Plan on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (NSP on GBVF 2020-2030). Minister Tolashe will be joined by KZN MEC of Social Development, Ms Mbali Shinga and local community leaders.

Members of the media are invited to attend and cover Jozini community dialogue planned as follows:

Date: Thursday, 05 December 2024  
Time: 09h00-13h00
Venue: Msiyane Community Hall, Ward 8 Jozini KZN Province  

Media can RSVP by contacting Ms Nomfundo Xulu-Lentsoane  on 066 480 6845 / NomfundoLe@dsd.gov.za  

Media enquiries may be forwarded to 
Mr Bathembu Futshane 
Cell: 071 1621 154 
E-mail: bathembuf@dsd.gov.za

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