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The announcement followed a national outcry over the killings that have left communities in fear according to reports from Reuters and the South African Human Rights Commission. Ramaphosa described the violence against women as a source of profound pain and national shame in his televised address adding that the nation and its women are angry with justified rage. He admitted that what the government has done so far has not been enough to prevent women from being killed while assuring families that none of the cases would be allowed to go cold.
Four arrests have already been made in connection with some of the murders the president stated with investigations elevated to the national level under a multidisciplinary team that includes detectives crime intelligence specialists and forensic experts. Police have not found evidence of a single serial killer behind all the deaths but continue to probe every possibility including those showing signs of sexual violence among victims mostly in their 20s and 30s. The discoveries since July have reignited debate over repeated past pledges to curb such violence that have yet to deliver lasting change.
South African Police Service figures cited by the South African Human Rights Commission recorded 569 murders of women between April and June this year alone which equates to more than six per day. Parliamentary replies drawing on police data further showed that of 50 511 gender-based violence and femicide cases reported in the 2025-26 financial year only 30 736 resulted in arrests or referrals to the National Prosecuting Authority leaving nearly 20 000 without recorded further action. These statistics as compiled by authorities underscore the systemic gaps the latest directives are designed to close.
In his address Ramaphosa directed the ministers of police and justice along with the National Prosecuting Authority to conduct a national audit within 60 days of all unresolved murders attempted murders rapes and serious sexual offences involving women and children. The review must establish the volume and age of cases those awaiting forensic evidence instances where suspects have been identified but not arrested and any unreasonable delays in investigation or prosecution. Recovery plans for priority and stalled matters are then to be developed and implemented within 90 days of the audit’s completion.
Every municipality has been instructed to launch women’s safety audits without delay to identify high-risk zones such as areas with broken streetlights overgrown public spaces abandoned buildings unsafe transport routes and poorly secured parks according to the presidential directives. These assessments working in coordination with provincial governments and police must be finished within 60 days after which the most urgent hazards require action or inclusion in funded implementation plans with clear deadlines within a further 30 days. A separate funded plan to reduce forensic backlogs and establish quarterly-reported turnaround standards for priority gender-based violence cases must also be presented within 60 days by police and forensic authorities.
Ramaphosa called for a coordinated enforcement package to tackle alcohol-related violence including stronger action against unlicensed outlets and premises operating outside permitted hours while stressing that alcohol does not cause gender-based violence and can never excuse it with responsibility always lying with the perpetrator. Additional resources to support the initiatives will be allocated by the finance minister in the medium-term budget policy statement scheduled for October 21. The steps build upon earlier government actions such as the 2020 National Strategic Plan on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide and the declaration of femicide as a national disaster last November according to official records.
