The staff of St John's College gathered in solidarity to support the declaration of Gender-Based Violence and Femicide as a National Disaster. In the Memorial Chapel, colleagues stood united in reflection, while down in the valley, the Bridge and Pre-Prep staff formed a circle under the trees, joining the nation in a 15-minute moment of silence.
Trees wrapped in purple and a poster campaign encouraged our community to sign the #WomenForChange petition.
St John's College is committed to the important role we play in shaping the next generation of men who stand against gender-based violence.
"Every day in South Africa, at least 15 women are murdered, and 117 women report rape to the police. We must confront a painful truth: most cases of Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF) are committed not by strangers, but by someone the victim knows – a partner, ex-partner, family member, or close friend. Countless women remain trapped in their own homes, silently enduring abuse behind closed doors.
According to SAPS Crime Statistics from April 2023 to March 2024, 5,578 women and 1,656 children were killed, with femicide rising by a shocking 33.8% from the previous year, and 42,569 rape cases were reported, yet we estimate that up to 95% of rape cases go unreported.
Unlike access to a quality education, healthcare, dignified shelter and employment, the scourge of gender-based violence is indiscriminate. It cares not about culture, creed, race or class. Ayikhethi. Umdala, umncane, ufundile, awufundile, ushadile, awushadile - udlame oluhlukumeza abantu besifazane lusithinta sonke.
But we must also recognise that gender-based violence does not only harm women and children. Members of the LGBTQI+ community face targeted violence simply for existing, for living their truth, for daring to claim space in a world that too often refuses to see their humanity. Their safety is also our responsibility.
More disturbing is the brutal violence meted out on our children. Young, innocent, vulnerable, beautiful children. Nelson Mandela once said, 'There can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children.' We all need to respond with urgency to this unbridled violence, which is destroying our children's right to a happy and fruitful childhood. We are watching this violence steal their joy, their possibility and their future.
We must respond with urgency. We must hold our leaders accountable for raising the standard of what behaviour is tolerated. But just as importantly, we must also raise that standard within our own homes, our own schools, our own communities. Change is not only a policy issue; it is a cultural one. It begins with what we normalise, what we challenge, and what we refuse to look away from.
Today, we stand together – women, men, children, LGBTQI+ individuals, colleagues, families – not because we have all the answers, but because silence is no longer an option. Our collective action, however small, sends a message: violence has no place here. Not in our schools. Not in our homes. Not in our South Africa." – Thabisile Mkhize, Deputy Head: Transformation & Diversity in the College