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Since February 13th, every local news source you can think of has been dissecting and analysing the State of the Nation address, and when all is said and done, the annual pep-talk held no surprises.
There were plenty of smiles, self-congratulatory back-pats and sweeping general reassurances that all felt a little reminiscent of the late great comedian Bill Hicks’ monologue “Go Back to Bed, America”.
While it is certainly worth noting – and celebrating – the amazing progress our country has made since the start of our democracy, it simply doesn’t help to deny or flat-out ignore the various crises still facing us today.
In the wake of SONA 2014, the things that weren’t said are far more troubling than those that were.
(Of course, there were plenty of upsetting things said loud and clear, including the ruthless body-shaming of a big-and-beautiful, heavily pregnant MP for her choice of dress. But that in itself is a whole other cause for concern, and very telling about the way our society treats women.)
As for the things that went unsaid – our President glossed over a number of pressing matters, including the problem of violence against women, which is rife in South Africa.
Below is the full scope of coverage the topic received on the night:
“One of the key focus areas is to eradicate violence against women and children. We have introduced a number of measures to respond to this challenge.
"These include the reopening of the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Units as well as the Sexual Offences Courts.
"We thank the many NGOs that promote the rights of women and children who contribute positively to this important work.”
And just like that, we had Covered The Issue and Moved Swiftly Along to the problem of rhino poaching with barely a pause for breath.
One inconvenient, uncomfortable topic after another boxed up neatly in a package of well-chosen words. The message is clear: There’s nothing to see here, move right along – we are Dealing With It. Everything Is OK.Everything is not OK.
On the eve of Valentine’s Day, a day now inextricably linked with the death of Reeva Steenkamp and our country’s devastating intimate partner femicide statistics, the head of our nation was presented with an opportunity to address an excruciatingly relevant issue, and chose to simply breeze past it instead.
And no, that wasn’t surprising.
Not at all.
And that, in itself, is profoundly troubling.
In an election year, political figureheads will naturally want to focus on addressing the issues that will bring in the largest number of votes. Issues close to the hearts of the average South African citizen.
The question is, while issues of job creation, housing and service delivery are undoubtedly important, and deserving of our attention, why is violence against women NOT one of these big, vote-drawing issues? Why are we, as a nation, not more greatly moved by the ever-present shadow of domestic violence and abuse that hangs over so many women?
When you consider that one woman in South Africa is killed every eight hours by her partner, it’s impossible to deny that violence against women is a pressing issue facing the “average” SA household. A President should be willing to address the danger facing his country’s most vulnerable citizens, rather than pandering to the demands of its strongest.
Consider the fact that 51.3% of South Africa’s citizens are female, and vulnerable to the effects of violence against women. There is a crisis facing our nation, but you needn’t trouble yourself about it.
Not tonight. Go back to bed. Go and stare vacantly at the vapid glitz of Top Billing. Your Government is in control.
Follow Women24 on Twitter or like us on Facebook.
There were plenty of smiles, self-congratulatory back-pats and sweeping general reassurances that all felt a little reminiscent of the late great comedian Bill Hicks’ monologue “Go Back to Bed, America”.
While it is certainly worth noting – and celebrating – the amazing progress our country has made since the start of our democracy, it simply doesn’t help to deny or flat-out ignore the various crises still facing us today.
In the wake of SONA 2014, the things that weren’t said are far more troubling than those that were.
(Of course, there were plenty of upsetting things said loud and clear, including the ruthless body-shaming of a big-and-beautiful, heavily pregnant MP for her choice of dress. But that in itself is a whole other cause for concern, and very telling about the way our society treats women.)
As for the things that went unsaid – our President glossed over a number of pressing matters, including the problem of violence against women, which is rife in South Africa.
Below is the full scope of coverage the topic received on the night:
“One of the key focus areas is to eradicate violence against women and children. We have introduced a number of measures to respond to this challenge.
"These include the reopening of the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Units as well as the Sexual Offences Courts.
"We thank the many NGOs that promote the rights of women and children who contribute positively to this important work.”
And just like that, we had Covered The Issue and Moved Swiftly Along to the problem of rhino poaching with barely a pause for breath.
One inconvenient, uncomfortable topic after another boxed up neatly in a package of well-chosen words. The message is clear: There’s nothing to see here, move right along – we are Dealing With It. Everything Is OK.Everything is not OK.
On the eve of Valentine’s Day, a day now inextricably linked with the death of Reeva Steenkamp and our country’s devastating intimate partner femicide statistics, the head of our nation was presented with an opportunity to address an excruciatingly relevant issue, and chose to simply breeze past it instead.
And no, that wasn’t surprising.
Not at all.
And that, in itself, is profoundly troubling.
In an election year, political figureheads will naturally want to focus on addressing the issues that will bring in the largest number of votes. Issues close to the hearts of the average South African citizen.
The question is, while issues of job creation, housing and service delivery are undoubtedly important, and deserving of our attention, why is violence against women NOT one of these big, vote-drawing issues? Why are we, as a nation, not more greatly moved by the ever-present shadow of domestic violence and abuse that hangs over so many women?
When you consider that one woman in South Africa is killed every eight hours by her partner, it’s impossible to deny that violence against women is a pressing issue facing the “average” SA household. A President should be willing to address the danger facing his country’s most vulnerable citizens, rather than pandering to the demands of its strongest.
Consider the fact that 51.3% of South Africa’s citizens are female, and vulnerable to the effects of violence against women. There is a crisis facing our nation, but you needn’t trouble yourself about it.
Not tonight. Go back to bed. Go and stare vacantly at the vapid glitz of Top Billing. Your Government is in control.
Follow Women24 on Twitter or like us on Facebook.
