President Cyril Ramaphosa on ‘sick leave’ attends golf, addresses GBV

President Cyril Ramaphosa promised a stronger government response to gender-based violence (GBV) as police investigate the murders of 10 women in Gauteng in the last two months.

MORE FUNDING FOR GBV

Ramaphosa spoke to journalists on the sidelines of the ANC Veterans League fundraising golf day at the Johannesburg Country Club in Woodmead on Monday 21 September. The President of South Africa said women should not have to live in fear of being abused or killed, and that the problem does not affect women alone. He described it as “a national crisis” that must be treated as one.

The president said government will commit more money, resources and technology to tackle the fear women face. He added that an inter-ministerial committee is developing several initiatives to strengthen the state’s response, though no details have been made public.

“Gender-based violence is not only a problem for women, but it’s also a national crisis, and we need to be treating it with exactly that. And we’re going to even be deploying more money, more resources, more technology to ensure that we deal with the fear that women are now subjected to,” he said.

THE GOLF DAY BACKLASH

A video of Ramaphosa arriving at the ANC Veterans League Presidential Golf Day went viral as the country thought he was on sick leave. He had been booked off sick on 16 September after returning from the BRICS summit in India. Critics accused him of ignoring the GBV crisis while being well enough to play golf. It was not clear from the reports reviewed whether the Presidency has responded to the criticism.

Investigators have reported a breakthrough. Police have arrested a man and two women in connection with the murder of the ninth victim, whose body was found in an open field near Dawn Park last Thursday. National police spokesperson Athlenda Mathe said each of the nine cases is receiving priority attention. Other reports say police have linked eight of the deaths to a pattern across Gauteng since July 2026.