Ramaphosa unveils four-point GBV plan after 11 Ekurhuleni killings

President Cyril Ramaphosa has unveiled a four-point gender-based violence (GBV) plan with strict 60- and 90-day deadlines, ordering urgent action on unresolved murder and rape cases, forensic backlogs and unsafe public spaces across South Africa.

This forms part of government’s latest response to gender-based violence and femicide as police investigate the deaths of 11 women found in Ekurhuleni since July.

Addressing the nation on Tuesday night, 29 September, Ramaphosa ordered police, justice officials, forensic authorities and municipalities to account for stalled cases and failures that could leave women at risk.

The measures include a national case recovery operation for unresolved murders, attempted murders, rapes and serious sexual offences involving women and children, as well as safety audits in every municipality.

Ramaphosa also acknowledged that government’s existing response had failed to stop the violence.

“What we have done has not been enough,” he said.

“It has not been enough to prevent women from being killed. It has not been enough to make women safe in their homes, in our streets, on public transport, in workplaces and places of learning.”

The announcement comes seven years after Ramaphosa previously announced emergency measures to strengthen South Africa’s response to gender-based violence, including action on poorly investigated cases, forensic delays and DNA backlogs.

Here are the four immediate measures in Ramaphosa’s GBV plan and the deadlines government must now meet.

1. National operation to recover stalled GBV cases

Ramaphosa ordered the Police and Justice and Constitutional Development ministers, working with SAPS and the National Prosecuting Authority, to launch a national case recovery operation.

The operation will focus on unresolved:

• murders;
• attempted murders;
• rapes; and
• serious sexual offences involving women and children.

Within 60 days, authorities must determine how many unresolved cases remain and how long they have been outstanding.

They must also identify cases waiting for forensic evidence, cases where suspects have been identified but not arrested, and investigations or prosecutions that have faced unreasonable delays.

Within 90 days, officials must draw up individual recovery plans for priority cases and cases that have stalled.

Each plan must identify what action remains outstanding, which official is responsible and the deadline for moving the case forward.

“A case must not collapse because a docket has been lost, an investigation has been poorly conducted, or a survivor has been treated without dignity,” Ramaphosa said.

“Where the state fails women, we must hold ourselves accountable and correct those failures.”

2. Forensic backlogs face 60-day deadline

Ramaphosa’s second directive targets delays in forensic evidence.

He ordered the Police Minister, national police commissioner and relevant forensic authorities to present a funded plan within 60 days to reduce forensic backlogs.

The plan must set out the size and age of the backlog, shortages of staff and equipment, the resources required and deadlines for reducing outstanding work.

Authorities must ring-fence priority forensic samples linked to the rape or murder of women and children for urgent processing.

“A forensic sample must not sit unprocessed while a perpetrator remains free,” Ramaphosa said.

Government must also publish progress against forensic turnaround targets every quarter.

The forensic issue has featured prominently in the Ekurhuleni murder investigation.

Police previously revealed that forensic evidence had linked persons of interest to some of the identified victims.

GBV CRISIS | President Cyril Ramaphosa has directed the Minister of Police, the National Commissioner of Police and relevant forensic authorities to submit, within 60 days, a funded plan to reduce forensic backlogs in GBVF cases. pic.twitter.com/T6WtlDGqQ3

— SABC News (@SABCNews) September 29, 2026

3. Every municipality ordered to conduct women’s safety audit

Ramaphosa’s third measure places responsibility on municipalities to identify physical conditions that could place women at risk.

Every municipality must begin a women’s safety audit without delay, working with provincial governments and police.

Within 60 days, authorities must identify hazards including:

• broken streetlights;
• overgrown public spaces;
• abandoned buildings;
• unsafe transport routes and facilities;
• poorly secured parks; and
• cemeteries and other high-risk spaces.

Ramaphosa specifically referred to cemeteries after Ntombifuthi Nxumalo was found dead at Mooifontein Cemetery in Thembisa.

Within 90 days of completing the audits, municipalities must fix the most urgent hazards or place them into funded implementation plans with firm completion dates.

The results must also be made public.

“Women should not have to live in fear because government has failed to repair a light, clear a public space, process evidence, or enforce a law,” Ramaphosa said.

Ramaphosa’s fourth directive targets harmful alcohol use and enforcement around liquor outlets.

Provincial and municipal authorities must intensify enforcement of liquor laws and bylaws, particularly against unlicensed outlets and establishments operating outside the hours allowed under their licences.

The President also ordered the Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition to work with the ministers of Health, Social Development, Police and Cooperative Governance on a coordinated legislative and enforcement package.

They have 60 days to submit the package to Cabinet.

Ramaphosa stressed that alcohol could never excuse violence against women.

“Alcohol does not cause gender-based violence and it can never excuse it. Responsibility always lies with the perpetrator,” he said.

However, he said harmful alcohol use remained a significant aggravating factor in interpersonal violence and had to form part of prevention efforts.

Ekurhuleni murder probe elevated nationally

Ramaphosa also gave an update on the investigation into the women found dead across Ekurhuleni.

A specialised multidisciplinary investigation has been elevated to national level under the Deputy National Commissioner for Detective Services.

The team brings together detectives, Crime Intelligence, forensic specialists, investigative psychologists, digital investigators and other specialist capabilities.

The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research is assisting with digital forensic investigations.

Police have also collected evidence including DNA, blood samples, clothing, cellphones and cellphone records.

No evidence yet of a single killer

The discovery of several women’s bodies across Ekurhuleni has sparked fears that one killer could be responsible.

Ramaphosa addressed those concerns directly.

“At present, the police have not found evidence establishing that these killings were committed by a single perpetrator,” he said.

However, investigators have not ruled out other possibilities.

“All possibilities remain under investigation.”

Arrests already made

Ramaphosa confirmed arrests in some of the cases.

Police arrested a suspect following the killing of Ntombifuthi Nxumalo, whose body was found at Mooifontein Cemetery in Thembisa.

Two suspects have also been arrested and appeared in court in connection with the killing of Jabulile Ntimba.

Another suspect remains in custody in connection with the murder of Busisiwe Mahlangu.

In other cases, investigators have identified persons of interest and collected forensic and digital evidence.

“To the families of the women who have been brutally killed, I say that these cases will not be allowed to go cold,” Ramaphosa said.

First progress report due within 90 days

Ramaphosa also placed reporting requirements on government.

The Interministerial Committee on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide and the National Council on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide must monitor the measures.

Government must issue its first consolidated public progress report within 90 days.

Reports must then follow every quarter.

“These directives are not just a statement of good intentions,” Ramaphosa said.

“They establish responsibilities, deadlines and a duty to submit reports on a regular basis to the nation.”

Seven years after Ramaphosa addressed South Africa over the same crisis, he acknowledged that the country had reached another grim moment.

“The names of the victims are new, but the crime is not.”

This time, government’s response comes with deadlines attached.