National shutdown planned ahead of G20

So far, almost 850,000 people have signed a petition to declare their support for a nationwide shutdown on 21 November, to draw attention to Gender Based Violence (GBV) and Femicide in South Africa.

Additionally, many on social media are changing their profile pictures to purple, the symbolic colour of GBV. 

This is after a women’s rights movement, Women For Change, announced its plans to stage a national shutdown ahead of the G20 summit.

The movement is demanding that gender-based violence and femicide be declared a national disaster.

Research from the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) shows that nearly 40% of women in South Africa have experienced physical and sexual violence in their lifetime, making it one of the countries with the highest rates of GBV globally. 

Spokesperson for the movement, Cameron Kasambala, said in an interview with Newzroom Afrika that the Women for Change want to disrupt the G20, as South Africa, who will host the event, will aim to portray the country as a stable, growing economy. 

“As much as we are putting this front out to the rest of the world, there’s so much happening on the ground in South Africa that continues to be ignored,” said Kasambala.

“So while all international eyes are looking at South Africa, we want to show them the reality of what is going on.”

The movement has called on all women and members of the LGBTQI+ community across South Africa to cause an economic shutdown by refraining from all paid and unpaid work, and to spend no money. 

At 12 pm on the day, the Women for Change have asked that participants spend 15 minutes lying down, to honour the 15 women murdered every day in South Africa. 

The number of murders is six times the global average of femicide across the world, according to Kasambala.

“We are also known as the rape capital of the world, because we have 117 rape cases reported every single day, and that’s only 5%.”

“They’re not seeing the magnitude of the issue. It’s a lot bigger than people think,” Kasambala said. 

According to the spokesperson, government interventions have failed to combat femicide. Kasambala said that there has been a 33.8% rise in cases over the past year. 

“So the number is telling us that the action is not actually happening and the implementation is poorly done.”

The Women for Change want violence against women to be declared a national disaster, as they believe this will force the government to be more transparent about the measures that are being taken to combat GBV. 

“Claiming it as a national disaster means acknowledging that it is a crisis, a human rights crisis that is happening. That’s the kind of reaction we want to see coming from them.”

G20 preparations sabotaged

South Africa’s hosting of the global event has not been smooth sailing, even as the event has not yet begun. 

The G20 Summit, which begins on 22 November, brings together 19 countries and the European and African unions to discuss major economic issues. 

United States President Trump recently announced that no delegate from the US will be attending, as the Trump administration continues its critique of South Africa’s race-based laws. 

Trump argues that it is a disgrace to hold the event in South Africa, because “Afrikaners are being killed and slaughtered, and their farms are being illegally confiscated. 

The presidency has refuted these claims and said “the claim that this community faces persecution is not substantiated by fact,” and called Trump’s social media post “regrettable.”

Following this, trade union Solidarity has erected large billboards and banners in Johannesburg on major airport routes with the message, “Welcome to the most race-regulated country in the world.”

As the city has cleaned up Johannesburg and installed signage for visiting dignitaries, the Gauteng Provincial Government has said these efforts have been sabotaged by “malicious and seemingly coordinated” acts of vandalism. 

Infrastructure and signage have been tarnished, including newly installed signage near Nasrec, as well as streetlights and traffic signals along major routes.

“We will not allow the desperate actions of a few to jeopardise this critical national opportunity,” said Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi.

“Our message is clear: there will be zero tolerance for any disruption or sabotaging of the G20 Summit, and any attempts will be met with a swift, decisive response.”