Statement by Premier Alan Winde on the rapes and murders of women, by men, in society

On Tuesday 3 September, Premier Winde joined Benito Vergotine in conversation on The Honest Truth.

Listen to the conversation here: Statement by Premier Winde on the rapes and murders of women, by men, in society

I am horrified by the rapes and murders of women that have affected us all so deeply today. And I am equally horrified by the number of women and children who are assaulted and murdered on a daily basis in our country.

As a man, I bear responsibility in our society for the levels of violence against women and children.

As a man, I also know that we are key to the solution.

How boys are raised, whether they have respect for others instilled within them – and the men they become – determines the levels of violence in our society.

The statistics of violence against women and children are distressing enough – but we know that the majority of incidents of gender-based violence go unreported.

The police need to do better. There is no escaping that. And they must make certain that every single victim of gender-based violence receives adequate care and protection when approaching a police station for help. Detectives must prioritise the investigation of sexual offences and gender-based crimes so that quality dockets are swiftly prepared for prosecution.

These things must happen urgently – but they are outside of my power as Premier of the Western Cape.

My team have been working flat out on the biggest safety plan the Western Cape has ever seen. It’s not ready yet and I will only announce it when it is.

But let me say this: As part of our plan we will not only focus on enforcement and boots on the ground.

We are going to identify children – young boys – who are growing up around violence and who are most at risk – given their home circumstances – of becoming violent themselves.

We will work with them to change their behaviour and build respect for others with support and parenting programmes that have been proven to work across the world in similar contexts.

We will give these boys hope for a better future, positive role models and mentors. We will support teachers of youth at risk and we will expand our already successful Chrysalis Academy to younger children and into communities.

These aren’t just empty sentences. Every one of these interventions are already being budgeted for and planned as I speak.

And I want you, as a citizen of the Western Cape, to hold me accountable for them happening.

Because if we don’t change our boys, we will never change our society.