Minister Maropene Ramokgopa on launch of South Africa's Femicide Review Pilot
Minister Ramokgopa calls for evidence-based action to combat femicide as South Africa Launches Femicide Review Pilot
The Minister in the Presidency for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, Ms Maropene Ramokgopa, today called for stronger evidence-based and collaborative action to prevent femicide, as government and its partners launched South Africa's Femicide Review Pilot during a national stakeholder webinar hosted under the theme “Remembering Lives Lost. Building Systems That Save Lives."
The Webinar, which was hosted by the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME) in partnership with the Pan-African Collective for Evidence (PACE), brought together representatives from government, civil society, academia, development partners and research institutions to explore the manner in which South Africa can strengthen systems that are aimed at preventing gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF).
During the delivery of the keynote address, Minister Ramokgopa emphasised that South Africa's response to femicide must move beyond mourning the lives lost and focus on learning from each tragedy to prevent future deaths.
"Every life lost to femicide demands more than our grief, but action. It demands that we learn from these tragedies and devise means to prevent them," said Minister Ramokgopa.
The Minister reminded participants that behind every statistic is a human story and that society has a responsibility to interrogate whether opportunities existed to prevent these deaths.
"We should be asking ourselves if femicide could have been prevented. What were the warning signs? Did the systems designed to protect the victims function effectively? What lessons can be learned to prevent similar tragedies in the future?" said Minister Ramokgopa.
A central focus of the webinar was the introduction of the Femicide Review Methodology, a multidisciplinary and multi-stakeholder process designed to examine the circumstances surrounding femicide cases, identify systemic gaps and generate lessons for prevention. The methodology is not a criminal investigation but a learning process aimed at strengthening institutional responses and improving coordination across sectors.
The webinar heard presentations on the state of femicide in South Africa, the implementation of the National Strategic Plan on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide, international experiences in combating GBVF, and practical considerations for implementing South Africa's first Femicide Review Pilot.
Minister Ramokgopa highlighted the importance of shifting the national conversation from reacting to acts of violence to preventing them. The Minister said that "the methodology supports a shift from reaction to prevention. Instead of asking only what happened, it encourages us to ask why it happened and how similar outcomes can be prevented in the future."
The Minister further noted that no single institution can address femicide alone and called for stronger collaboration between government, communities, researchers, civil society organisations, the justice system and development partners.
A major outcome of the webinar was the official launch of the pilot phase of the Femicide Review, which will be implemented in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape. The pilot will help refine the methodology while strengthening governance arrangements, institutional coordination and support systems that are aimed at preventing violence against women and girls.
Minister Ramokgopa added that the ultimate measure of success will not be the number of reviews undertaken but the extent to which lives are protected.
"Its success will be measured by our ability and commitment to deduce meaningful lessons, institutional response to these lessons and the extent to which communities become safer. Above all, it will be measured by whether lives are saved," said Minister Ramokgopa.
As Women's Month draws to a close, stakeholders at the webinar reaffirmed their commitment to working together to prevent GBVF through evidence-informed policymaking, stronger accountability and improved service delivery systems.
Concluding her address, Minister Ramokgopa urged all sectors of society to ensure that remembrance is translated into meaningful action. The Mister said that “When we remember lives lost, we acknowledge our collective responsibility and when we build systems that save lives, we transform remembrance into hope. As South Africans, we owe it to every woman and girl who has lost her life to violence to ensure that their stories contribute to a safer future for others."
For media enquiries related to the Ministry in the Presidency for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, kindly contact:
Mr Phetole Rampedi
Cell: 0826332016
Email Phetole@dpme.gov.za.
For media enquiries related to the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, kindly contact:
Mr Thomas Nkosi
Cell: 0799079016
Email TomNkosi@dpme.gov.za.
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