Cape Town — President Cyril Ramaphosa signed two new bills into law as part of government’s efforts to combat two of South Africa’s biggest scourges.
In a historic move at the Union Buildings on Friday, Ramaphosa signed the National Council on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF) Bill and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) Amendment Bill into law on Friday. He said corruption and GBV are two plagues scourging South Africa’s social fabric, SA Gov News reported.
“Corruption and gender-based violence are affronts to the human dignity that is the inalienable right of every South African. These forms of criminality are holding our country back and preventing us from realising our full potential,” Ramaphosa said.
The National Council on GBVF will coordinate and provide strategic leadership to fight against GBV and Femicide, and will draw on expertise of all stakeholders, including civil society, labour and business.
“Through these efforts, we have seen improvements in conviction rates and in stricter sentencing. While this progress is welcome, our greatest task is to prevent Gender-Based Violence from being perpetrated in the first place” he said.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has signed into law the National Prosecuting Authority Amendment Bill and the National Council on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide Bill. Tears Foundation intervention supervisor Kavya Swaminathan discusses the importance of the new laws.
Watch:… pic.twitter.com/wBRvOskuNO
— Newzroom Afrika (@Newzroom405) May 24, 2024
Speaking about the NPA Amendment Bill, Ramaphosa said that progress has been made since the establishment of the Investigating Directorate within the NPA over the last five years. Thus far, it has been successful in multiple state capture and corruption cases involving people and entities.
“To date, the Investigating Directorate has taken 39 state capture and corruption cases to court, involving 212 accused persons and 68 accused entities. In the last five years, the NPA has also secured the conviction of almost 700 government officials for corruption,” Ramaphosa said.
The signing into law of the National Prosecuting Authority Amendment Bill will establish an Investigating Directorate against corruption as a permanent entity within the NPA.
“This legislation will help to overcome challenges with capacity and expertise within the NPA to investigate and prosecute complex corruption cases. Permanent criminal investigators will be appointed, with full police powers. The Investigating Directorate against Corruption will be able to reap the benefits of collaboration with the private sector and other social partners,” he concluded.
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
