Every person who comes into contact with children in South African schools must be vetted against a register of sexual offenders, says basic education Minister Siviwe Gwarube. Speaking at the annual Uyinene Mrwetyana Memorial Lecture at Kingswood College on March 31, Gwarube drew a comparison with the alleged rape of a 7-year-old child at a Matatiele school. She said while government policy was important in ensuring schools exclude sexual predators, making South Africa safe for women and children involved all of society.
Gwarube said she was working with Mmamoloko Kubayi, minister of justice and constitutional development, to change the law to make it more difficult for sexual predators to have access to children at schools.
“As elected leaders, we must relentlessly pursue creating safe places for all our children,” Gwarube said. “We must do so using the law and the policies that we adopt; however… the war against women and children in this country cannot be won by government interventions alone. It has to be a whole of society approach.”
The annual lecture commemorates UCT student and Kingswood College alumna Uyinene Mrwetyana, who was murdered in Cape Town in 2019.
Speaking about the significant contribution of girls to the continued improvement in South Africa’s matric results, she said, “This is the South Africa that Uyinene believed in—a country where young women are not just participants in the national story, but authors of their own futures.
“But even as we celebrate these achievements, we must confront a painful truth: while young women are excelling in classrooms, too many of them are being denied the future they have worked so hard to build.”
Gwarube said Uyinene’s death was not just an isolated act of violence.
“It was a painful reminder of the war being waged against women in this country every single day.”
While the government had a duty to ensure that their policies and practices protected young women, it was also a fight for every South African.
“It is a fight for men to take responsibility and hold one another accountable… for institutions—schools, universities and workplaces—to create environments where women feel safe, respected, and valued.”
-
This article was first published in Talk of the Town, April 3, 2025. The newspaper serving the communities of Ndlambe and the Sunshine Coast, with a weekly wrap of Makhanda news, is available at stores from early on Thursdays.
