Where’s the war room for GBV?

Every morning, I get on X in search of a light laugh … but I find that I can’t escape the harsh realities we find ourselves in.

With just five days to go to the national elections, I wonder why political parties are not prioritising women’s issues.

ALSO READ: Mozambique man sentenced to life for girlfriend’s murder in Mpumalanga

Their main focus is on how many houses have been built and how many job opportunities have been created.

Politicians are busy bucking a lot of things, talking about their overly ambitious plans.

But as a young woman from a previously disadvantaged township, I recognise that many of the parties are not accommodating to the issues that women want parties to prioritise, such as gender-based violence (GBV), education and economic emancipation.

Do they want to advance the issues facing women? If that were the case, we would have seen a much better understanding around the issues that women face and how they are going to address them.

Think the economic empowerment of the mother who works two jobs just to make the minimum wage for her household in Soweto – and the tales of a young woman climbing the corporate ladder, where equal pay and nondiscrimination still appear to be a dream; out of reach.

Looking at the policies of some of the political parties who have launched their manifestos ahead of the elections, it is evident that there are no clear plans addressing education, economic empowerment and violence against women.

Some political parties have been much more consultative than other parties – and when I say consultative, I am not talking about showing off muscles at a community hall – while others fall behind in their commitments.

However, the real test will arise post the elections: how effectively these promises become tangible actions and results.

ALSO READ: Man sentenced for raping and impregnating teen stepdaughter

This draws me back to the dreaded day of a phone call bearing news of my sister’s murder.

She was found dead in an open veld in rural Eastern Cape and yet, four years later, we are nowhere near getting justice for her.

The investigation went silent and no-one has been arrested. Sadly, my sister has become another statistic for our government.

While they rushed to sign the National Health Insurance Bill into law because of politics and election pressure, we wait for a decision taken by the Cabinet on whether GBV should be declared a pandemic.

For heaven’s sake, what are we waiting for? What more do we need other than the horrific headlines telling of the violent death of yet another woman?

Why can’t they speed up declaring GBV a pandemic so we know they are serious about winning this war.

The current status quo robs innocent victims and their families of a real chance to get justice and some comfort that their children, unlike my sister, won’t become statistic.

We have a war room for electricity with weekly briefings around actions that the government is taking, because we need a lot more energy than we are getting.

Where’s the war room for GBV? Because it isn’t good enough for the president to say GBV is a second pandemic, while the government programmes do not follow suit.

I hope the incoming government, irrespective of which party will hold the next five years in office, will give us adequate governance.

Accountability of their plans and implementation thereof on the war on inequality and GBV… not just more lip service.