South Africa is in the grip of a serious crisis of violence against women and children that demanded urgent action, including harsher punishment, President Cyril Ramaphosa told the National Assembly on Wednesday.
He said government intended this to include the State opposing bail for rape and femicide suspects and for those who are convicted to be refused parole.
Men who are sentenced to life in prison for these crimes must never be released, Ramaphosa added in a special address following unprecedented street protests a fortnight ago, triggered by the rape and murder of a university student and several other crimes that shocked the nation.
"We affirm our position that the State should oppose bail for suspects charged with rape and murder of women and children and that those who are found guilty of such crimes, should not be eligible for parole and if sentenced to a life sentence, this must mean just what it is - life in prison," he said.
Ramaphosa stopped short of taking that step but promised that "the necessary amendments to our laws and policies to ensure that perpetrators of violence against women and children are brought to book" would be implemented.
In the meanwhile, he said, the government had developed an emergency action plan that would be implemented over the next six months.
It will be driven by an interim steering committee located in the presidency, he added. The measures to be taken will include better prevention of violence against women, enhancing the criminal justice system, ensuring better victim support and boosting the economic empowerment of women.
The emergency plan will not be given a special budget allocation, he said. Instead, "every department affected by this will be asked to mainstream the funding for fighting gender-based violence".
Ramaphosa said National Treasury would monitor this process along with the presidency.
The president has come under pressure following the rape and murder of UCT student Uyinene Mrwetyana by a post office employee in Claremont in Cape Town.
A week after thousands of women marched to Parliament to voice their anger, Police Minister Bheki Cele released the latest national crime statistics which showed that an average 113.9 rape cases are reported every day.
-African News Agency (ANA)
