We, the members of the MiLEAD Fellowship Network, a strong Pan-African network of Africa’s most exceptional young women leaders from 48 countries and the Diaspora, condemn resoundingly the barbaric xenophobic attacks against our African brothers and sisters in South Africa. We also wish to decry and call attention to the surging levels of extreme violence against women in South Africa.
We call for urgent leadership action to swiftly ensure justice for the many victims and survivors of the recent spate of violence; and demand that the South African government take immediate and firm action to end the horrendous surge in violence, as well as to address lingering systemic inequality and injustice in South Africa once and for all. And we implore all our African brothers and sisters- from Nigeria to Zambia, to decline any invitation or urge avenge these attacks through counter-attack on innocent South African nationals in our countries.
The MiLEAD Fellowship Network, includes both South African and non-South African Fellows based in South Africa, who have witnessed and even directly experienced these acts of violence, and who like the majority of women, live everyday in fear and uncertainty because of the high incidences of xenophobia and gender-based violence.
As young women leaders, we take particular note of the seeming leadership lapses that fuel, ignore and condone these incidents, fail to prevent these attacks, and to swiftly respond when it recurs. We demand greater responsibility and urgent leadership action from the South African government now.
We implore the South African government to ensure the safety of all African nationals currently resident in South Africa; and to ensure an immediate end to the Xenophobic attacks in compliance with stipulations under the African Charter on Human and Peoples rights.
We also ask for the government of South Africa to guarantee safety and dignity for all women as stipulated by the South African National Gender Policy Framework, the South African Constitution, the African Union Agenda 2063 and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development on Gender equality and women’s empowerment.
We find it unacceptable, that about 3,000 women in South Africa were murdered in 2018 – one every three hours; a number which is five times more than the global average, according to the World Health Organization. It broke our hearts to hear about Uyinene Mrwetyana, a young woman who on 24th August 2019 was raped and murdered by a postal worker in Cape Town, when she went to her local post office to retrieve a package, as well as official South African government tweet in response asking women “not allow themselves to become victims.” We demand proactive action now. We call on the government of South Africa to do more to address the underlining issues of gender and racial inequality, discrimination and extreme poverty in South Africa – once and for all.
We find it particularly disheartening and unacceptable, that young South Africans, who should be at the forefront of building their nation are often fronted as both the perpetrators and victims of the extreme violence.
We call for justice for women who have been subjected to gender based violence, and for all victims of xenophobia. We say no more to- the slow response, the inaction, and the high tolerance for xenophobia and gender based violence. We want to see a swift implementation of the National Action Plan- to address the underlining factors that breed the Afrophobic tendencies of self-hate and violence.
We call for a more accountable criminal justice system in South Africa that ensures all perpetrators of violence against women and girls face the full might of the law.
We call upon all members of parliament, ministers of state, community leaders, student leaders, aspiring leaders, and anyone who has a voice or platform in South Africa to denounce hate speech, Afrophobia, and gender insensitive narratives.
Crucially, we implore all South Africans to uphold the spirit of Ubuntu, and to desist from actions that weaken the bonds we share as Africans.
WE CONDEMN XENOPHOBIA! AND WE CONDEMN GENDER BASED VIOLENCE!
ABOUT MILEAD FELLOWS: MILEAD Fellows represent some of Africa’s most extraordinary young women leaders with the courage and commitment to lead change on the African continent. Constituted by the Moremi Initiative for Women’s Leadership in Africa, a Pan-African organization widely recognized as a leading and pioneer organization in promoting women’s leadership and social justice in Africa, the Fellows represent 48 African countries and the Diaspora and constitute a truly diverse and Pan-African network. From poverty to women’s economic empowerment, environmental justice and political participation, this new generation of African women leaders are at the frontlines of the struggle for change – providing the bold, visionary and inspirational leadership needed to lift Africa to its rightful place on the global stage.
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