The Democratic Alliance (DA) has formally written to acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia, demanding that upcoming national crime statistics include accurate, disaggregated data regarding crimes against women and children. The move comes in the wake of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s announcement last week of a comprehensive four-point plan to combat the escalating scourge of gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF).
The DA’s intervention highlights a critical skepticism toward the government’s ability to effectively allocate resources when the foundational data driving their strategy remains deeply flawed. DA Member of Parliament (MP) Lisa Schickerling emphasized that the South African Police Service (SAPS) has already admitted to significant inaccuracies within their reporting systems.
“The SAPS has admitted that its current data content has serious flaws, including victims being counted more than once and persistent errors in reporting the ages and genders of victims,” Schickerling stated. She argued that these discrepancies obscure the true scale of the GBVF crisis, making it nearly impossible to target interventions effectively or hold the state accountable for its progress.
The opposition party is now calling for urgent transparency. If the police force is unable to meet the upcoming November deadline to provide corrected, reliable figures, the DA insists that Minister Cachalia must establish a definitive, firm date for the release of accurate data. “We need accurate numbers to fight this crisis,” Schickerling added.
Meanwhile, the ANC Women’s League (ANCWL) has amplified calls for systemic change. Speaking during a National Day of Prayer and memorial service held at the Alberton Civic Centre in Ekurhuleni, ANCWL National Executive Committee member Boitumelo Moiloa welcomed the President’s four-point plan but argued that immediate, tangible fiscal commitments are required.
Moiloa urged both municipal and national government departments to ring-fence and redirect budgets specifically toward the fight against GBVF. She highlighted that municipalities, in particular, should be held accountable for incidents occurring within their jurisdictions by shifting their financial priorities to address local safety.
Beyond budgetary allocations, the Women’s League is pushing for a tougher judicial stance. Moiloa expressed strong support for a more stringent approach to the criminal justice system, specifically calling for the tightening of bail laws for perpetrators. “We are saying, in terms of the bills, in terms of the bails, can we be accommodated as women? We want to ensure that those perpetrators do not get bail,” she stated.
As the country continues to grapple with record-high levels of violence, both the DA’s demand for data integrity and the ANCWL’s call for budgetary and judicial reform underscore a growing national consensus: that existing measures are currently insufficient to protect the vulnerable. For now, the focus remains on whether the government can reconcile its strategic plans with the ground reality of the data it collects.
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