Section:GDN 1N PaGe:35 Edition Date:190906 Edition:01 Zone: Sent at 5/9/2019 19:20 cYanmaGentaYellowbl
Friday 6 September 2019 The Guardian •
World^35
Cape Town
protesters
condemn
failure to
deal with
attacks on
women
Robin-Lee Francke
Thousands of South African women
took to the streets yesterday to pro-
test at the government’s failure to deal
with rising violence against women in
the wake of a string of brutal attacks
that have shocked the country.
Women from all walks of life
marched together to parliament in
Cape Town dressed in black and purple
to honour those who lost their lives
in August, the most deadly month
for violent crimes against women the
country has ever seen.
This week the minister for women,
youth and people with disabilities,
Maite Nkoana-Mashabane , said more
than 30 women were killed by their
spouses last month.
At least 137 sexual off ences are
committed every day in South Africa,
mainly against women, according to
offi cial fi gures.
Thousands of people, including
local celebrities, have taken to social
media to express their anger and
frustration at the killings under the
hashtags #NotInMyName #AmINext
and #SAShutDown.
More than 400,000 people had
signed a change.org petition by yes-
terday calling for the government to
declare gender-based violence a state
of emergency.
Protesters are planning a national
shutdown of the country today and
are calling for a state of emergency to
be declared.
Yesterday, young and old took to
the streets, many wearing chains to
symbolise how the violence impris-
ons South African women.
Newman, a 26-year-old pregnant
woman who was shot eight times by
gangsters. The other victims included:- Denusha Witbooi , who was mur-
dered in her vehicle by unknown
gunmen. - Meghan Cremer , a show jumper,
found murdered, tied up and dumped
in a sand mine. - Six-year-old Nathlia Pienaar , who
died after being hit in the head by a
bullet while playing with a skipping
rope outside her home. - Lynette Volschenk , who was found
chopped up in her apartment. A neigh-
bour has been accused. - Leighandre Jegels , a South African
boxing champion, allegedly shot dead
by her police offi cer boyfriend.
The last straw for many was when
the body of a missing University of
Cape Town student, Uyinene Mrwe-
tyana , was discovered. The 19-year-old
had disappeared on 24 August on her
way to collect a parcel at the local post
offi ce. A post offi ce employee has con-
fessed in court to raping and beating
her to death with a set of scales inside
the post offi ce, which is next door to
the police station.
State espionage
and foreign
interference
‘biggest threat
to Australia’
Ben DohertyAustralia’s outgoing spy chief says
malevolent state espionage and for-
eign interference pose an “existential
threat” to Australia in a way that
extremist terrorism does not.
Duncan Lewis, the director general
of the Australian Security Intelligence
Organisation (Asio), will retire this
month after a fi ve-year term. He told
a forum this week that of the three
major “vectors” threatening Austral-
ia’s security – espionage and foreign
interference; terrorism; and cyber-
security – the interference of hostile
state actors posed the biggest threat.“It’s my view that currently, the
issue of espionage and foreign inter-
ference is by far and away the most
serious issue ,” he said. “Terrorism
has never been an existential threat to
established states – for weaker states,
yes, but for a place like Australia ter-
rorism is not an existential threat to
the state. It is a terrible risk our popula-
tions run and it is a very serious matter
which must be addressed every day.
“The counter-espionage and for-
eign interference issue, however, is
something which is ultimately an exis-
tential threat to the state.”
While terrorist attacks attracted
intense public attention, Lewis said,
the threat of espionage was often
harder to immediately recognise.men accountable who have been fail-
ing us for so long?
“If this government fails to protect
us, we, the women of South Africa, will
take them to the constitutional court,”
she said to cheers from the crowd.
In an impromptu address to the
protesters, Ramaphosa admitted
that it was time his government took
emergency measures to deal with the
scourge of rape and murder of women.
“Enough is enough and we are going
to act,” he said.
“Men that kill and rape must stay in
jail for life. The law must change that
once you have raped and killed you
get life, no bail!” Ramaphosa told the
angry crowd.
Among some of the measures
announced by the president are
proposals for the state to increase
minimum sentences and oppose
all bail and parole applications for
alleged sexual off enders. He also said
he would ask the country’s lawmak-
ers to amend the laws governing the
national sexual off ender database, and
propose the register be made public.
The fi rst of last month’s victims to
make national headlines was Saadiqa▲ Thousands of women protesting in
Cape Town yesterday, after a record
month of violence against women
PHOTOGRAPH: NIC BOTHMA/EPA‘ When will you hold
the men accountable
who have been failing
us for so long?’Lucinda Evans
Activist“The harm from acts of espionage
may not present for years or even dec-
ades ... these sorts of activities are
typically quiet, insidious and have a
long tail,” he said.
Lewis said that intelligence services
were still “getting a better understand-
ing of the breadth and the depth of the
cyber vector to us”.
“Communities and countries are
able to interfere in one another’s busi-
ness now, ” he said. “ There are conduits
through all of those technological
advances of globalisation: the inter-
net, instant communication ... social
media, that will allow infl uence to be
exerted remotely.”
Lewis did not cite China , which is
believed to have been behind a hackof the Australian National University’s
computer database in 2018.
Last month, offi cials from the Aus-
tralian Signals Directorate briefed
university vice-chancellors on the
risk of hackers targeting valuable or
sensitive research and personal data.
The New South Wales Independent
Commission Against Corruption has
heard recently of a $100,000 (£56,000)
donation given to the state Labor party
in an Aldi bag , allegedly from a banned
donor, Huang Xiangmo. The Chinese
property developer had his perma-
nent residency cancelled after Asio
believed he was “amenable to con-
ducting acts of foreign interference”
and had sought to infl uence Austral-
ian politics.Xenophobia crackdown
South Africa promised yesterday
to tackle the prejudice fuelling a
wave of xenophobic attacks, as
growing international anger over
the violence overshadowed a pan-
African World Economic Forum in
Cape Town.
The president, Cyril Ramaphosa,
said at least 10 people had died
during a week of violence targeting
foreign-owned businesses.
The foreign minister, Naledi
Pandor, acknowledged some of
the violence was being driven by
resentment of other Africans living
and working in South Africa. “There
is a targeting of Africans from other
parts of Africa, we can’t deny that,”
she said.
While the foreign victims’
nationalities have not been made
public, the rioting, and reprisal
attacks, have exposed tensions
between South Africa and Nigeria,
the continent’s two biggest
economies. Reuters Cape TownOthers carried placards reading:
“Enough is enough”, “My body is not
your crime scene” and pleading with
the president, Cyril Ramaphosa, to
act against the violence perpetrated
against women and children.
Lucinda Evans, an activist who
addressed protesters in front of par-
liament, said : “As a country we are in
a crisis. Violence against women, chil-
dren and the LGBTIQ+ is a crisis.
“I am addressing the female minis-
ters – when are you going to hold theseRELEASED BY "What's News" vk.com/wsnws TELEGRAM: t.me/whatsnws