Men from organisations across South Africa came together for a summit in August 2018 to develop a “men’s charter” and a “men’s sector strategic plan for positive social change”.
Opening the Takuwani Riime men’s summit in KwaZulu-Natal, deputy president David Mabuza called on men to take stock of the role they play in South African society. Takuwani Riime is a Tshivenda expression meaning “Let us stand up together”.
“We have to talk as men about the pain we’ve inflicted on women and children,” Mabuza said.
Here we weigh up five claims Mabuza made about violence against South Africa’s women and children. (Note: We tried to get clarity on Mabuza’s sources from his spokesperson Thami Ngwenya, but at the time of publication our request was unanswered. We will update this report when he responds.)
Claim: “Our country’s femicide rate has been increasing over the last five years.”
Verdict: correct
The South African Police Service records the number of women murdered in the country. When this data is compared with population estimates, a murder rate can be calculated.
The most recent data available shows that in the 2017/18 financial year, 15.2 out of every 100,000 women were victims of murder.
This is the highest the rate has been in the past five years and represents a 16% increase over the period.
South Africa’s femicide rate
Woman 18+ murdered Femicide rate/100,000
2013/14 2,354 13.1
2014/15 2,234 12.2
2015/16 2,416 13.0
2016/17 2,639 14.0
2017/18 2,930 15.2
Source: South African Police Service and Statistics South Africa