The Presidential Summit on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF) takes place at the Gallagher Convention Centre from 1 to 2 November.
The theme of this year’s event is: “Accountability, Acceleration and Amplification, NOW!”
2022 GBVF Summit
The summit will reflect on the work undertaken since the first GBVF summit in November 2018, and tensions were running high.
Participants demanded answers, asking particularly why it took so long to implement a GBVF council.
Delay in implementing GBVF council
The summit is facilitated by Eusebius McKaiser who, in no uncertain terms, demanded answers and asked why it took so long to implement a GBVF council.
Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane had a tough time explaining: “We have traversed this route together – as government, as civil society”.
She explained that the request to form a GBVF council had to be “taken to civil society, through to cabinet. From Cabinet it went through the process and has now gone through parliament”.
“This is the last leg where it should be. We have walked all the steps we needed to and are now on the last step. Parliament is going to adopt it the way it adopts all bills.”
DNA backlog distrust
McKaiser also said he was baffled; part of him was excited that the DNA backlog was slashed from 241 000 to 71 000.
However, he adds: “Another part of me perpetually distrusts police stats”.
“One of the questions [Police Minister Bheki Cele] must answer, besides what policing has done to eliminate gender-based violence since 2018, is to make available the raw data and methodology for how that stats are collated and put together”.
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Distrust in police stats
Cele said there is a gap between the police statistics and what activists tell him, so either the police stats “aren’t hygienic”, or activists are lying.
At this point, a member of the audience stood up, holding a poster which reads: “SapsFailsVictims”.
Cele took the stage and said the raw data can be made available. However, he failed to provide more on that.
Here’s what Cele said instead.
