Proteas captain Temba Bavuma condemns recent killings of women, urges action

Proteas captain Temba Bavuma has spoken out strongly against a recent wave of killings of women in South Africa, saying fear and panic are spreading through households and calling on leaders to move from conversation to decisive action.

Outrage after at least nine women slain

At least nine women were brutally slain in recent days, prompting public outrage, marches and urgent calls for police and government action. Authorities confirmed that specialised detectives and national units have been deployed to investigate whether the killings were carried out by a single perpetrator or by multiple attackers.

Bavuma: “Disturbing” and “scary”

Speaking at his foundation’s golf day on Thursday, which marked a decade of his foundation’s work, Bavuma described the wave of gender-based violence as “disturbing” and “scary.” He told eNCA that the situation has put many people into panic.

“I was gonna use the adjective ‘sad,’ but I think that’s an understatement. It’s actually put a lot of people in panic mode, not just females,” Bavuma said.

He shared a personal moment to illustrate the fear he has seen: “I got back home yesterday, and my missus had a taser gun. You can see the fear and the panic that our females have. I don’t know what really can be done, but it’s real.”

Calls for systemic change

Bavuma reflected on the national declaration of gender‑based violence as a crisis and questioned whether enough is being done to change mindsets. He said: “GBV was declared a national crisis. But what needs to be done to really shift the mindsets of our people? It’s not a good state of affairs.”

He acknowledged traditional expectations of men as providers and said: “I think we are failing there. A lot needs to be done systematically, more than just the conversations that are happening.”

Amnesty International urges legal recognition of femicide

Amnesty International South Africa urged the state to recognise femicide as a distinct crime, saying that failure to do so leaves women unprotected. Executive Director Shenilla Mohamed said:

“Every day that femicide remains unrecognised as a crime is a failure to confront the targeted killing of women.”

Amnesty said South Africa recorded 5 578 women murdered between 2023/2024 about 15 women every day, and noted that while 33 countries criminalise femicide, only two African countries do so. Amnesty argued that categorising killings simply as murder obscures gendered motivations and hinders proper tracking and resourcing.

Mohamed warned that the South African Police Service had failed to publish disaggregated crime data since August 2025, saying:

“Reliable data is not a technical detail; it is a prerequisite for accountability.”

What officials say and what remains

Specialised units are investigating the recent killings while calls grow for concrete policy and policing changes. Bavuma’s remarks added a prominent sporting voice to the national outcry and underscored demands for measures that go beyond public discussion.