Minister Sindisiwe Chikunga: Launch of 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children

Theme: “LETSEMA: Men, Women, Boys and Girls Working Together to End GBVF”

Opening

Programme Director,
His Excellency, President Cyril Ramaphosa
Premier of the Free State, Honourable Maqueen Letsoha-Mathae,Sindisiwe Chikunga during the 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children
Ministers and MECs,
MPs and MPLs
Members of the Diplomatic Corps
Traditional and Religious Leaders,
Civil society and men’s formations,
Survivors who are with us today,
Distinguished guests, compatriots—

Good afternoon.

Let me begin by appreciating the Free State for convening this Men’s Indaba during the 16 Days of Activism. This is not symbolic. It is a deliberate call for men to sit down together and confront what is happening in our country. Mr President, this gathering shows that men in this province are stepping forward.

In my work, I travel across South Africa — from Polokwane to Matatiele, from Lusikisiki to Bloemfontein. I sit in rondavels, in community halls, in churches and schools. And everywhere I go, I hear some of the most painful stories: women whose last moments were filled with terror; children who have seen things no child should ever witness; families broken because someone they trusted chose violence over love.

Across our cultures and in our faith traditions, the role of a man has always been clear. Scripture teaches that husbands must love their wives “as Christ loved the church” — with sacrifice, protection and honour. Our cultures teach the same in their own language: a man is umkhuseli womzi, isikhonkwane somndeni — the guardian and stabilising pillar of the home.

Yet across South Africa, that sacred duty has been abandoned. Homes that should be sanctuaries have become dangerous places. And we must say it plainly: women are not killing themselves. The violence etched into their bodies and their memories comes overwhelmingly from men.

A famous Lutheran Priest, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, once said: “Silence in the face of evil is itself evil. God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.”

Programme Director, that is why this Indaba matters.

Across the country, we are beginning to see men organising themselves: in churches, in workplaces, in the creative industry, in the media, in the film sector, in sports in academic institutions, and business spaces. We see the work of the GoodMen Foundation, Empowaworx, and the Transforming Mentalities Programme led by Department of Higher Education and Training. These are signs of hope — proof that many men are deeply troubled by what is happening and are searching for a different way to be men.

But colleagues, it is not yet enough.

And no matter how many laws we pass or campaigns we run, we will not turn this around until men themselves decide that this must stop — in their homes, in their friendships, their taxis, their taverns. In the workplaces, both public and private, men who wear ties and suites must stop demanding sex from young girls including interns to secure permanent employment. It is wrong, it is unethical, it is unprofessional and it is abominable cruelty. 

So indeed, this Indaba cannot be a once-off event. It must be a turning point — in how we think, how we speak, and how we act.

GBVF, Disability and what government is doing

Programme Director, 

I must say that we meet today just one day after we celebrated the International Disability Day and we closed Disability Rights Awareness Month 2025, and I want to bring that work directly into this Men’s Indaba — because GBVF and disability are deeply connected.

During a visit to one of the Provinces, we met two women whose lives reflect this link.

The first was a woman who lost her arm in an incident of GBVF, after being attacked by her sister’s partner. She told us that while she is grateful for the social grant that she is prepared to forfeit, what she truly needs is capital to start her own business, because she still wants to provide for her children as a woman now living with a man-made disability. 

In the same community, we met another woman who had been born with a disability and was later raped by her neighbour — targeted because she was less able to defend herself and less likely to be believed.

Ladies and gentlemen, these are not isolated incidents; they echo what our national GBV prevalence study confirms that women with disabilities are much more subjected to violence than women without disabilities.

The truth is clear: violence can result in disability, and disability can increase vulnerability to violence, that is why we are prioritizing disability. 

Distinguished guests, government is responding in several ways.

Firstly, this year we launched DRAM inside a Supported Employment Enterprises (SEE) factory in Kimberley. SEE factories employ persons with disabilities producing school desks, furniture, hospital linen and uniforms. Government has exempted SEE factories from procurement requirement such as submission of quotations. Hearing this exemption, Premier Zamani Saul, heard this announcement and he immediately committed the to order 5000 school desks from the KSEE Company Kimberley for the Northern Cape Department of education. Such actions and commitments at national level can create up to 3 000 and more jobs.  

Premier MaQueen, there is a SEE factory on Nelson Mandela Drive in Bloemfontein and so we equally implore on you and your government to procure your desks, hospital linen, uniforms etc. from the local SEE factory so that it can operate at full capacity and create even more opportunities for persons with disabilities — including survivors of GBVF with disabilities.

Across the public service, working with the Department of Public Service and Administration, we will be issuing a Ministerial Directive ordering Public Service to meet the 4% employment equity for persons with disabilities during this financial year. You are requested to develop plans to reach this target. Equally, we are expecting both Public Service and Private Sector to appoint at least one person with disability in all the Boards. This is also part of our GBVF prevention agenda for women with disabilities. 

As part of our G20 Empowerment of Women Working Group legacy projects, we are establishing a Disability Inclusion Nerve Centre — a national hub for data, research, coordination and accountability across the disability sector. 

We have already garnered support from a range of international and domestic partners, including TEHA and the All-China Women’s Federation, which has committed R2.5 million towards this work. For many families living with disability, this Nerve Centre represents a real source of hope: that they will no longer be invisible in our statistics or last in our planning. All these are means to empower women with disabilities with the main objective of preventing GVBF.

Positive masculinity, a call to action and introduction of the President

Mr President, under your gracious leadership, South Africa successfully hosted the first-ever G20 on African soil. And through our chairship of the Empowerment of Women Working Group, we were able to advance three priorities, Financial Inclusion, Care Economy (Paid and unpaid) and Prevention of GBVF. For the GBVF priority, as one of our Beyond the G20 legacy projects – Together with GBVF Response Fund and UN Women, we are rolling out the Positive Masculinity Initiative - a prevention strategy offering practical tools in schools, initiation forums, sporting structures, traditional councils, workplaces and digital spaces.

Going forward, we are focusing on the implementation of GBVF preventative programmes as informed by the Mid-Term Review of the NSP on GBVF. 

As I close, allow me, Programme Director, to speak directly to the men in this room:

Start with yourself and Look honestly at your own words, actions and silences.

Hold other men accountable! If harmful behaviour goes unchallenged, it becomes permission.

Raise boys differently and teach our sons that strength is not domination, that respect is non-negotiable, and that “NO” is a complete sentence.

Stand with survivors! Believe women. Support them. Report when necessary.

Mr President, I want to thank you for your steadfast leadership in this struggle. You have consistently treated GBVF as a national crisis, not a seasonal campaign. Through the Presidential Summits, the strengthening of the National Strategic Plan, the establishment of the GBVF Response Fund, the appointment of the Inter-Ministerial Committee and the Classification of GBVF as a National Disaster as well as the relentless accountability, you have ensured that safety, dignity and justice for women and children remain at the centre of our national agenda.

Programme Director, it is now my honour to invite His Excellency, the President of the Republic of South Africa - Mr Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa, to ascend to the podium and address this Men’s Indaba.

I thank you. 

NB: Zizojik’ izinto…

Isililo soMama sihhoye…

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