Minister in The Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, has led a delegation of government officials, civil society organisations and community members in the "Love Your Street service delivery programme in Kwa-Thema, in the Ekurhuleni Municipality.
The municipality is the site of the recent discovery of the bodies of nine women.
The "Love your Street" campaign involves the mobilisation of communities to participate in keeping their environment clean and promoting shared responsibility for neighbourhood safety.
“Love Your Street is part of the programme that was launched by the Deputy President [Paul Mashatile] on clean cities and clean towns. It is also part of the comprehensive emergency response to the recent incidents of GBVF [gender-based violence and femicide] in Ekurhuleni and is also part of the National Strategic Plan against GBVF in the country.
“It includes dealing with safety from environmental design (sic) ... Some of the women who were kidnapped, were kidnapped whilst jogging. This could be because the streets are dark.
“Some of them were dumped in illegal dumps. If we therefore eradicate illegal dumping sites, there won't be places [like that]. [We must] clean the streets ... and open spaces, making sure that they are debushed," Ntshavheni said.
The Minister said engagements have been held with the municipality’s leadership to ensure that streetlights are operational to make spaces safer.
During the campaign, nine trees were planted in honour of the nine slain women.
“We’re going to put names around them so that we continuously remember and recommit that it will never [happen] again. We need to be a caring society," Ntshavheni said.
She commended those who have vowed not to turn a blind eye to GBV.
The Minister also planted a tree as part of the Milestones of Freedom campaign, which remembers 70 years since the 1956 Women’s March, 60 years since the District 6 forced removals, 50 years since the 1976 Youth Uprising and 30 years of the Constitution. – SAnews.gov.za
