Voices Rise: Thousands protest Gender-Based Violence in South Africa
South Africa turns black and purple today as artists, activists and citizens shut down the nation to protest gender-based violence. From Cape Town to Durban, voices rise for justice, safety and change.
Image: Image/supplied
SOUTH AFRICA came to a standstill on Friday, November 21, as thousands of women, LGBTQI+ individuals, and allies took to the streets and stayed away from work in protest against the country’s unrelenting scourge of gender-based violence.
Organized by the advocacy group Women For Change, the National Shutdown Against GBV called on citizens to wear black, urged women to stay home from work and school, withdraw from the economy for one day, and lie down for 15 minutes at noon to honor victims of femicide.
The campaign, which began as a viral social media movement, will culminate in a countrywide shutdown a day before global leaders arrive in Johannesburg for the G20 Summit.
From the Company’s Garden in Cape Town to Mary Fitzgerald Square in Johannesburg and along the Golden Mile in Durban, demonstrators carried placards reading “Am I Next”, “Stop Killing Us”, and “Justice for All Survivors”.
Protesters say they are tired of living in fear, tired of burying their sisters, and tired of being told to stay safe when the danger is in their homes, taxis, and streets.
The protest follows a string of high-profile GBV cases that have gripped the nation, including the recent murder of 22-year-old Naledi Phangindawo in Mossel Bay. Her brutal killing reignited calls for justice and accountability.
South Africa consistently records some of the highest levels of violence against women in the world. According to UN Women, the femicide rate is five times the global average. Official crime data shows that between January and March alone, 137 women were murdered and more than 1,000 raped.
The protest has drawn widespread support from civil society, artists, and public figures.
Protestors held a "15 minutes lie down"
Image: Images/ Ian Landsberg
Poet and performer Lebogang Mashile, who has long used her voice to speak out against gender injustice, also joined the protest, calling it “a necessary act of collective mourning and resistance.”
Online, the movement surged under hashtags like #GBVShutdown, #NotOneMore, and #AmINext, with thousands of supporters, including celebrities and international allies, have changed their profile pictures to purple, a color associated with the fight against GBV.
Other artists such as Moonchild Sanelly, Sho Madjozi, and rapper Yugen Blakrok have taken to social media to express solidarity, urging fans to wear black and join the march or participate in the digital protest by turning their profile pictures purple.
However, the National Disaster Management Centre has rejected calls to label GBV a national disaster, arguing that it does not meet legal criteria. President Cyril Ramaphosa told the G20 Social Summit that South Africa declared GBV and femicide a national crisis in 2019 but campaigners insist little progress has followed.
“There are so many beautiful acts and legislations,” said Women for Change spokesperson Cameron Kasambala, “but we struggle with implementation and transparency. We’ve integrated violence into our social norms.”
She argued that stronger political action would shift the country’s response: “Once the government truly reacts, we’ll already start seeing change on the ground.”
As the G20 Summit unfolds, protesters are urging world leaders to confront the reality that economic growth cannot be separated from gender justice.