AUTOFORUM

March and March will march against GBVF

Sep 29, 2026 March and March Movement, Sandile Dube, GBVF, gender-based violence and femicide, MISA, Martlé Keyter,

March and March will march against GBVF

Tomorrow, the March and March Movement will lead men’s marches across South Africa, including in the major metros of Pretoria, Durban and Cape Town, to confront gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF) and violent crime.

Sandile Dube, National Spokesperson for the March and March Movement, says GBVF is a serious criminal offence that disproportionately affects women. “Although the men’s march centres on GBVF and crime, we cannot ignore the killing of innocent people. We call on men to take a stand against the scourge of GBVF, and we urge both men and women to join tomorrow’s march,” says Dube.

MISA, the Motor Industry Staff Association representing more than 80 000 members in the retail motor industry, welcomes anyone joining the Union’s call to say enough. The Union is of the view South Africa has lost the war against GBVF. “Women in this country are dying with protection orders in their bags. They do everything the law allows to protect themselves and they are pursued and killed anyway,” says Martlé Keyter, MISA’s Chief Executive Officer: Operations.

MISA phoned March and March today to confirm that its action tomorrow will not be a national shutdown or a protected strike action. “The Union want to emphases that no workers should be disrupted or prevented from going to work as they will not enjoy protection if they stay away. The safety of workers and their families must remain paramount,” says Keyter.

Dube confirmed that the planned action will be a focused stand against GBVF. “We cannot remain silent while women are dying,” says Dube.

In Pretoria, marchers will gather at Church Square, proceed through Sunnyside and hand over a memorandum at the Union Buildings. In Durban, memoranda will be delivered to the provincial offices of the South African Police Service, the Premier and the Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities. In Cape Town, a memorandum will be handed over at the Premier’s office.

In the City of Ekurhuleni, where 12 women’s bodies have reportedly been found, the march will take place in Thokoza, Alberton.

Eleven years of alleged rapes, and the suspect was guarding the NPA's door

MISA, is deeply disturbed to learn that a security officer who guarded the offices of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) in Durban is allegedly a rapist that the South African Police Service (SAPS) has been searching for a decade. The man allegedly waged a reign of terror in and around Durban and Pietermaritzburg between 2014 and 2025.It is alleged that he followed women home from taverns and broke into the homes of women living alone. He was linked to the attacks through DNA, although his profile was not on the national DNA database. He appeared on fifteen counts of rape.

Martlé Keyter, MISA’s Chief Executive Officer: Operations, says his arrests raise serious concern about the vetting procedures followed by private security companies appointed to ensure the safety of those working in the criminal justice system. This arrest also highlights how crucial a proper functional Forensic Science Laboratory is to the South African Police Service (SAPS). This is central to solving murders, rapes, shootings, robberies and drug-related crimes, but has become overwhelmed by unprecedented backlogs, infrastructure decay, critical staff shortages, poor resource management and systemic misgovernance.

In July, the Acting Police Minister told Parliament this Laboratory is sitting on a backlog of approximately 300 000 DNA entries. Of these, 251,427 are reference samples already taken from known individuals but not yet processed. Entries wait an average of about 800 days to be processed. Many of these are cases related to rape, murder and sexual offences against children. An unprocessed sample cannot be matched to anything. While it sits on a shelf, the evidence waits, and so do the survivors. The Portfolio Committee on Police have blamed expired equipment contracts and too few officers trained to take samples.

"How many rapists are walking free because a quarter of a million DNA samples are sitting on a shelf? This case shows what DNA can do. No survivor should be left waiting because the evidence in her case is stuck in a laboratory queue,” says Keyter. MISA demands that the SAPS must publish a clear, funded plan to clear the DNA backlog. Our members leave home before dawn and return after dark. Many of them are women. Their safety cannot depend on a system this far behind.

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