President Cyril Ramaphosa is urging South Africans to act with greater urgency and purpose to stop gender-based violence (GBV), and he is specifically calling on communities to work with the South African Police Service (Saps) to ensure that criminals are apprehended.

Last week a group of men and women shooting a music video at a disused mine near Krugersdorp were attacked by armed assailants who gang raped eight of the women.

“Rapists have no place in our society. We call upon communities to work with the police to ensure that these criminals are apprehended and prosecuted. Our communities must not shelter criminals in their midst,” Ramaphosa said.

He said GBV and femicide is a deep-rooted societal problem that is the responsibility of all society to bring to a decisive end.

“We have made a start, but as the terrible crimes in Krugersdorp remind us, we need to do much more and we need to act with greater urgency and purpose,” he said, pointing out that many in communities might know about crimes but choose to keep quiet because the perpetrator is a friend, a partner or a colleague.

He said given the amount of GBV in the country, it is no longer possible to avoid responsibility for reporting sex crimes.

He reaffirmed that all tip-offs received by the Saps Crime Stop contact centre are confidential.

New legal provision that came into effect on Sunday now means that all South Africans have a legal duty to report crimes to authorities.

Ramaphosa said this is one of three laws that he has signed this year to strengthen the fight against GBV and offer greater support and protection to survivors.

Among other things, the laws expand the scope of the National Register of Sex Offenders, strengthen the vetting process, and introduce additional categories of sexual offences. 

Ramaphosa said processes are underway to put these laws into effect, including training of prosecutors and magistrates, issuing directives on bail to all Saps officials, and revising charge sheets to include the newly created offences.