The Total shutdown in Pretoria

Community alerts, Mpumalanga, Carolina, Lorraine Kakaza, 2018/08/31

THE TOTAL SHUTDOWN IN PRETORIA
“My body is not your crime your crime scene” the theme of the day
On the 1st of August 2018, women and gender non-conforming people from all over South Africa had a shut down and marched against gender-based violence.
Every week we received multiple reports of women, children, and gender non -confirming people who have been brutally murdered ,kidnapped and abused. and we can tackle this violence and there is no urgency response from our leaders to find ways in which society violence can adopt including LGBTI(Lesbian Gay By sexual Trans Intersexual people keep on dying at the hands of Africa and something needs to be done.
Women have to camp outside at the union building waiting for the President Cyril Ramaphosa to hand in the memorandum on the 1st of August 2018 and the memorandum was read on Channel 404. Women have been making noise but they were not heard, the women agreed that if our president doesn’t deliver, noise will be made in all nine provinces and regions. In South Africa the gender violence is very high and women and children are abused and some of them are transgender ,Violence is there, everywhere and mostly in the mining affected communities its happening every hour as conflicts about jobs and other social issues are in demand. women and children become victims and whenever a case is reported they even become victimised by the perpetrators that’s why this total shutdown demands that this comes to an end.
One of the women were concerned about the event, she said today we are celebrating women’s right, tomorrow women’s pain will continue when they are not able to give their children a slice of a bread. Celebrating the women’s day can’t only be speaking of the weakness of men. The patriarchal system which speaks to how this country is doing things to help men to move backwards. I am interested on how as women we are taking the stand to ensure that we will facilitate the change through being active in our own destiny, as we are celebrating women’s day today…words from Tara
ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WAS ON THE MEMORADIUM is the commitment to beginning a process to develop a comprehensive law on addressing GBV. This includes engaging the South African Law Reform Commission to begin a consultation process. The law must include the provision of services, a clear legal and policy framework for protection and support services for victims and survivors of violence.
The shutdown didn’t end well as some of the women were going to prepare for their children and cook for their husbands, others were on night shift and had to go and prepare for work. Those who were left behind were not protected as the police started to use pepper spray to disperse the group and there were ambulances and police vans all over.