The South African Police Service (SAPS) is unwavering in the battle against crime and gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF) and aligning with President Cyril Ramaphosa’s national thrust to create a safer, more equal society. The recent Gender-Based Violence and Femicide Dialogue at Kimberley Police Station on 27 March 2025 was a prime example of SAPS’s unbreakable resolve for the cause.

The conversation, convened by the Provincial Commissioner of SAPS in the Northern Cape, Lieutenant General Koliswa Otola, brought together government departments, NGOs, civil society, and community members under the theme: “Collectively, we can accelerate action for gender equality.”

The project is a component of the National Strategic Plan on GBVF that was launched in response to the crisis charted during the 2018 Presidential Summit.

At the event, SAPS’s ongoing commitment to ending GBVF was re-emphasised by Lieutenant General Otola. “We will continue collaborating with government departments, civil society, and community leaders in close coordination to attain a coordinated and effective response to GBVF,” she said.

The session was an opportunity to present the complexities of GBVF and the difficulties of how to combat it, to hear from survivors and specialists so as to have their voices guide interventions, and to convene stakeholders for a harmonised response.

Lieutenant Colonel Thabo Litabe, SAPS Provincial spokesperson in the Northern Cape, also addressed the role of the police in halting GBVF, but this time adding new policing strategies. “Through intelligence-based operations and engaging the community, SAPS takes the lead in bringing perpetrators of GBVF to book,” he added.

The meeting concluded with a Vote of Thanks by Commissioner Subashini Moodley, Regional Commissioner of Correctional Services for the Free State and Northern Cape, also reaffirming the importance of multi-sectoral collaboration in combating GBVF.

SAPS’s commitment to gender equality and the eradication of GBVF is aligned with the broader national agenda as articulated by President Cyril Ramaphosa. In his 2025 State of the Nation Address, the President reaffirmed the government’s commitment to doubling its efforts against GBVF, terming it the country’s ‘second pandemic.’ He underscored the need for an inclusive and well-funded national response.

Among the most critical interventions under the National Strategic Plan on GBVF are holistic legal reforms to assist prosecution, psychological and social services for survivors, establishment of a GBVF Response Fund to expand financial support to programmes, and continued support to Thuthuzela and Khuseleka Care Centres.

In a historic step, President Ramaphosa assented to the National Council on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide Bill into law on 24 May 2024. The bill established an independent council tasked with providing strategic leadership in the fight against GBVF, ensuring an enhanced coordinated and effective response.

In addition, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) Amendment Bill has entrenched the Investigating Directorate against Corruption within the NPA. It is now a permanent, prosecution-headed institution with the complete authority of investigation, to handle corruption cases which undermine the struggle against GBVF and other crimes.

After 30 years of democracy in South Africa, President Ramaphosa has prioritised the connected problems of corruption and GBVF as the key impediments to a free and equal society. The government’s commitment, coupled with SAPS’s ongoing efforts, is to dismantle these impediments through stronger institutions, fresh policing methods, and better services to support victims.

As SAPS collaborates with the government’s vision of strategy, optimism now arises for a safer and more equal South Africa. The recent GBVF dialogue is just one of many that prove a pro-active policing initiative and prevention of crime, so that communities across South Africa are protected but also empowered.

As SAPS rolls out and develops crime-fighting strategies further, the collaborative effort of all stakeholders – government, law enforcement, civil society, and business – is still required. The path to a crime-free and gender-balanced South Africa is one that requires sustained commitment, and SAPS has once again demonstrated that it is willing to uphold this vision.