GBVF: Failure to pay child maintenance is gender-based violence

The Inter-Ministerial Committee on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide kicked off on Monday with clarity regarding government’s National Strategic Plan on GBVF.

This ties in with the Second Presidential GBVF Summit, which will take place from 1 to 2 November 2022 in Midrand.

National Strategic Plan on GBVF

GBVF 2022 gazetted

Minister of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, said government made strides to gazette the National Council on GBVF 2022.

The Bill – included at the end of this article – was published on 30 September, and sought to eliminate femicide in South Africa.

Earlier this month, Nkoana-Mashabane said the policy and framework of the Bill would “ensure a coordinated national response to the crisis of GBVF by government”.

Failure to pay maintenance also abuse

Nkoana-Mashabane also touched on the issue of child maintenance and how it impacts children when fathers don’t provide financial assistance.

“Failure to pay your child maintenance is another form of gender-based violence. Can men please pay the maintenance for their children? Can they please look after their children?”

She encouraged communities and media – and especially other men – to talk about this and encourage “other men to look after their children”.

Scroll to 1 hour and 2 minutes in the video below for the comments on child maintenance.

WATCH: GBVF briefing

She said failure to pay child maintenance are “some of the things that make young people to grow up to be so angry”.

Nkoana-Mashabane said paying maintenance develops South Africa because “those children will be happy children, they’ll be able to go to school, and they’ll have shoes”.

DNA backlog

Meanwhile, Cele said the DNA backlog had been reduced from 241 000 during the first quarter of 2021/2022 to 71 000 at the time of publishing.

In addition, more than 6 000 criminals have been sentenced to life imprisonment for rape and other GBVF-related crimes.

He called on everyone – from friends and family members to communities as a whole – to “play a role in the prevention to help reduce the trauma of abused women”.

ALSO READ: ‘Police working with NPA to fast track cases’, says Cele as DNA testing backlog reduced

Finetown shooting

Cele also addressed the Finetown shooting, during which six people died and five others were left injured in Ennerdale, in the south of Johannesburg.

On Sunday, police spokesperson Brigadier Brenda Muridili said four suspects allegedly attempted to rob street vendors selling chicken feet.

Cele said: “How do you rob a person who sells chicken legs? How does it happen? […] This person is at the bare minimum of life, and really?”

“You go and rob that person? You even shoot that person? You kill that person? South Africans are not there to shout at the government and police. But shout at those people.

‘Police are punch bags’

Cele also remarked how police members have “become punching bags” whenever cases of crime and assault make headlines.

“There will be issues that maybe one segment of the cluster would not have done the best. Unfortunately, people love to bash the police. Police are just the punch bag.”

The Gender-Based Violence & Femicide can be viewed here.