2,960 women in South Africa were killed in less than a year.
One Billion Rising Africa are rallying, marching and raising the alarm on gender based violence.
We Rise in Solidarity with the women of South Africa.
Support their call to put pressure on the South African government to act with urgency on the femicide crisis.
PRESS STATEMENT
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
22 September 2026
ONE BILLION RISING SOUTH AFRICA SOUNDS THE ALARM: SOUTH AFRICAN WOMEN ARE UNPROTECTED, UNSUPPORTED, AND RUNNING OUT OF TIME
Issued by Lucinda Evans, Human Rights Defender and Coordinator, One Billion Rising South Africa
On South African Heritage Day, 24 September 2026, women across this country will not be celebrating heritage — we will be marching for our lives.
Nine women were murdered in the past weeks. This was the final straw.
It has been 305 days since Gender-Based Violence was declared a National Disaster in this country. In that time, more than 2,960 women have lost their lives to murder. Mr President, you stood before the nation and declared GBV a national disaster. What, exactly, has changed? When does it end? And the question that matters most: who benefits from this government’s apathy on GBV and femicide?
Who benefits when the response to a national disaster is lip service?
THE NUMBERS SPEAK — AND THEY UNDERSTATE THE TRUTH
According to the latest SAPS Quarterly Crime Statistics, released in August 2026 and covering 1 April to 30 June 2026 — 91 days — 569 women were murdered in South Africa. That is approximately six women every single day.
We know, too well, that SAPS statistics do not reflect the actual number of femicides in this country. If the real figure is closer to ten women a day, as some on the ground have suggested — and I say this under correction — then a woman is being murdered in South Africa every two hours and twenty-four minutes.
WE HAVE MARCHED BEFORE
#AmINext. #RememberKwezi. #TotalShutdown. #WomenForChange. South African women have marched, hashtagged, mourned, and demanded action for years. And still, there is no dedicated emergency GBV funding. Organisations like One Billion Rising South Africa, and many others doing this work on the ground, remain under-resourced and under-supported. The knee remains on our necks, and we still cannot breathe.
THIS IS NOT ONLY A CALL FOR FUNDING — IT IS AN ALARM
One Billion Rising South Africa is the flagship advocacy programme carrying this call, and we need to be clear about what this moment is. This is not simply a request for money. This is an alarm being raised because there is almost no meaningful support structure standing between South African women and the violence that threatens us every single day. Our safety is not guaranteed. Our existence is not protected. That is the emergency — and emergency global funding is dire needed to close that gap right now, not eventually.
OUR CALL
One Billion Rising South Africa is issuing a global call for support and solidarity with the women of South Africa.
We call on the international community to add its voice and its pressure, to push the South African government to act — not to speak, not to declare, but to act — with the urgency this crisis demands.
We call on the South African government to release dedicated, ring-fenced emergency GBV funding, and to build the support infrastructure — shelters, response units, victim support — that currently does not exist at the scale this crisis requires. Emergency global funding is dire needed, and we call on international partners, donors, and institutions to answer that need without delay.
At this moment, South African women feel we have been left to defend ourselves. That must change.
JOIN THE SOLIDARITY MARCH — 24 SEPTEMBER 2026, HERITAGE DAY
Media enquiries:
Lucinda Evans
Human Rights Defender | Coordinator, One Billion Rising South Africa
