Carlo Petersen2 April 2025 | 11:45

ANCWL marches to Parliament, wants GBV declared a national disaster

The march follows nationwide protests on Tuesday, after a seven-year-old schoolgirl was raped in the Eastern Cape.

ANCWL marches to Parliament, wants GBV declared a national disaster

ANCWL march to Parliament to declare GBV a state of national disaster on the 2 April 2025. Picture: Carlo Petersen

JOHANNESBURG - The African National Congress Women's League (ANCWL) is marching to Parliament on Wednesday to hand over a memorandum for the Government of National Unity (GNU) to declare gender-based violence (GBV) a national disaster.

The march follows nationwide protests on Tuesday, after a seven-year-old schoolgirl was raped in the Eastern Cape.,

On Wednesday, about 100 ANCWL members and supporters joined the march through Cape Town's CBD.

The regional secretary for ANCWL, Sindiswa Masumpa, said Wednesday's march sought to highlight numerous cases of ongoing GBV in the Western Cape and the country.

Masumpa said it was important not to view recent news of the rape of a seven-year-old schoolgirl in the Eastern Cape as an isolated incident.

"We are focusing on all gender-based violence. We also have our incident in the Western Cape of Joshlin Smith here in the West Coast area. We have many cases... We have been going to court as the ANC Women's League in supporting the gender-based violence victims most of the time."

Masumpa said protesters will hand over a memorandum for the government to declare GBV a national disaster to facilitate funding to tackle the scourge.