Picketers outside City Hall demand safety for women and children
Women and civil society groups call for government to act against femicide
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Selloane Jeminah Madonna joined a silent protest outside Cape Town City Hall and the police station on 16 September. Photos: Liezl Human
- About 100 people protested outside Cape Town City Hall and the police station on 16 September in response to the murders of eight women in Kempton Park since July as well as the murder of a ten-year-old girl from Kraaifontein on Monday.
- Protesters criticised the SAPS which had called on women to exercise caution following the discovery of several bodies in Kempton Park.
- In November 2025, President Cyril Ramaphosa declared gender-based violence and femicide a national disaster after a mass campaign and a petition by Women for Change.
“Women shouldn’t be taking precautions to go to the shop, to take a jog or to go to the gym. Women shouldn’t be taking precautions to exist,” said Selloane Jeminah Madonna, a 24-year-old Cape Town resident.
She was one of about 100 people who staged a silent protest outside the Cape Town City Hall on Wednesday in response to the murders of eight women in and around Kempton Park since July and the discovery of a ten-year-old girl’s body in Kraaifontein on Monday.
Protesters criticised the response of the police which had called on women to exercise caution following the Kempton Park murders.
Picketers carried placards reading: “How many bodies?”, “Leave us alone”, “Girls just want to live”. Some had their mouths taped shut. During the moment of silence, some women started crying.
Madonna also read out the names of a number of women who have been victims of femicide since 2017, including that of UCT student Uyinene Mrwetyana, whose murder in August 2019 led to nationwide #AmINext protests.
For several years there have been calls for harsher measures against gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF). In 2018 the country saw the #TotalShutdown protests to voice frustrations and anger over rising murder rates for women. Last year, thousands marched in Cape Town and Durban calling for justice after a seven-year-old was raped.
Picketers outside Cape Town City Hall on Wednesday.
On Wednesday, activists again called for the presidency to confront the femicide crisis.
Speaking to a crowd outside Cape Town Central police station, Cape Town resident Thekiso Mokhele encouraged men to “confront” other men about their actions.
“Stop protecting your friend because he is your friend. Stop looking away. Stop teaching boys that violence is strength,” he said.
“I am ashamed that women have had to learn how to protect themselves from men. I am ashamed that you have to think about where you walk, who you trust, how you dress, and whether you will make it home or not. You should not have to live like this.”
In November 2025, President Cyril Ramaphosa declared GBVF a national disaster after country-wide protests and a petition by Women for Change.
The Trauma Centre, in a statement on 16 September, condemned the Kempton Park and Kraaifontein murders.
“As social workers we are tired of yet another domestic violence victim told by SAPS they can’t assist with a domestic issue, or that she can’t be helped because she has an alcohol problem, or to take a protection order to SAPS in the area from which she fled from her perpetrators,” read the statement.
According to a South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) study looking at 20 years of femicide, seven women are killed every day in South Africa.
The SAMRC study also found that there have been hundreds of police dockets on femicide that have gone missing over two decades.
Protesters gathered outside the Cape Town police station.
Meanwhile, SAPS is no longer publishing data on the murder of women and children in its quarterly crime reports.
In June 2025, Parliament criticised SAPS for omitting disaggregated data on crimes involving women and children, including murder, from the fourth quarter crime statistics for 2024/25.
“The committee is deeply concerned by the absence of credible and complete data, as it significantly undermines efforts to assess the scope of violence against women and children and to develop effective, targeted interventions,” said parliamentary police portfolio committee chairperson Ian Cameron in a statement.
The statistics were also absent from reports published by SAPS on 2025/26 crimes, according to a recent report by Daily Maverick.
Sonke Gender Justice has condemned the killings in Kempton Park calling for the police task team investigating the murders to be adequately resourced, to offer victim support to the families, and for immediate community-based safety responses.
“While we appreciate SAPS’s stated commitment to women’s safety, safety messaging must not place the burden on women to avoid walking, jogging or simply existing in public spaces. Women have the right to safety everywhere. The focus must remain on identifying and prosecuting those responsible, and on making public spaces safer through visible policing, improved lighting, CCTV and community patrols, not on restricting women’s freedom,” the statement read.
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