Thursday, 10 July 2025

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) calls on all victims of Gender-Based Violence (GBV) and those with unresolved child maintenance matters to urgently come forward and report their cases to the EFF offices. We request that all those affected provide the following information:

• Your case or docket number;
• The police station where the case was opened; and
• The name of the investigating officer assigned to the matter.

This intervention follows shocking revelations by KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner, Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, who exposed high-level corruption and political interference within the South African Police Service (SAPS). His statements confirm what the EFF has long maintained: the failure to resolve GBV and child maintenance cases is not only due to incompetence but is also a result of deliberate corruption and neglect within the SAPS.

Too many women and children are left without justice, as police officials abuse their power, stall investigations, or protect perpetrators. This criminal betrayal of the most vulnerable in our society must end, especially when over 33% of women over 18 years old in South Africa have experienced physical violence. Women seeking justice for GBV are routinely ignored, retraumatised, or turned away. Many report being ridiculed by police officers, denied case numbers, or told to “go home and talk to him.”

These systemic failures are not isolated incidents, they are part of a widespread pattern of institutional neglect, corruption, and patriarchal bias that even extends to our child maintenance system. Recent figures are a huge indictment of a child maintenance system in collapse. According to the Department of Justice, as of February 2024, there were over 170,000 incomplete child maintenance applications across the country. These figures reflect a maintenance system that is broken, backlogged, and completely unresponsive to the daily struggles of the over 44% of single mothers who are raising children without financial support.

The EFF stands firmly against this injustice and demands a complete overhaul of the child maintenance and GBV response systems. We call on all affected individuals to report their unresolved matters to the EFF so that we may confront the state on their behalf. We urge all victims, families, or guardians of unresolved GBV and child maintenance cases to come to our offices at Winnie Madikizela Mandela House, 119 Marshall Street, Marshalltown in Johannesburg. For those unable to physically visit our offices, please contact our EFF GBV Desk via SMS, WhatsApp or ‘please call me’ at: 082 422 6894.

The EFF will compile these reports and pursue every case through legal and parliamentary channels to ensure no victim is silenced and no perpetrator is protected. Let us expose the rot in the police service and fight for justice where the state refuses to do so.

ISSUED BY ECONOMIC FREEDOM FIGHTERS

Sinawo Thambo (National Spokesperson) 072 629 7422

Thembi Msane (National Spokesperson) 061 467 8169

Andiswa Madikazi (Parliament Media Liason) 069 516 4924

Thato Lebyane (Media Inquiries) 078 563 1581