KZN Premier Urges Men to Combat GBV at Men's Health Month Launch

According to statistics from April 2022 to March 2023, Inanda leads KwaZulu-Natal in GBV-related crimes, with 641 cases reported.

KwaZulu-Natal Premier Thamsanqa Ntuli has called on men to play a crucial role in ensuring the safety and protection of women. Ntuli made this appeal during the launch of Men’s Health Month in Durban on Monday, which featured a law enforcement parade by the police. The parade began at King Dinuzulu Park and concluded at Durban City Hall, aiming to promote positive male behavior and address the issue of gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF).

Ntuli highlighted the significant impact religion and culture can have in reducing GBV, stating, “It is very shameful that the scourge of gender-based violence and femicide has reached worrisome proportions in our country. Even in war, since time immemorial, hurting women and children has always been seriously frowned upon. Men who attack women have always been regarded as cowards. Even in rites of passage, conceptually, boys are taught to respect women… If this is no longer happening, those rites of passage violate tradition.”

According to statistics from April 2022 to March 2023, Inanda leads KwaZulu-Natal in GBV-related crimes, with 641 cases reported. These include rape, sexual assault, assault with intent to inflict grievous bodily harm, attempted murder, common assault, and murder. The top 30 police stations in the province recorded a total of 10,442 GBV-related cases during the same period.

Ntuli attributed the high levels of GBV to ignorance, myths, fallacies, and falsehoods. He stressed, “It is a major fallacy that men are made for leadership. Those men who believe this myth are likely to unnecessarily feel emasculated by the mere occupation of leadership positions by women. We need to teach our male children that women are not their toys or their punching bags, but are their equal partners.”

He urged men not to abuse their leadership roles and advocated for teaching children essential life skills, regardless of gender. “We must [also] teach our children that washing dishes and clothes; cleaning the house, and cooking are not gender roles but life skills. While such an approach is essential for our male children’s own development and readiness for the future, it also ensures that as they grow and meet women, they do not attempt to relegate them to their servants,” Ntuli said.

Ntuli also emphasized the critical role of law enforcement in protecting vulnerable groups. “When a woman is a victim of domestic violence, she relies on the paramedics in specific cases and the police, who are expected to make arrests and to process and effect protection orders. When these women walk, or, sometimes sadly, crawl into police stations, they expect justice and healing. They do not expect negotiations to be brokered by police officers. They do not expect judgment when wearing revealing clothes and they do not expect lethargy and indifference,” Ntuli said.

To underscore his commitment to safety and security, Ntuli announced that the Community Safety and Liaison function would move to the Office of the Premier following his swearing-in as KwaZulu-Natal Premier.