Rachel Kolisi urges men to confront GBV after Ekurhuleni murder discovery

Rachel Kolisi has called on men across South Africa to begin frank conversations and take responsibility in the fight against gender-based violence (GBV), speaking out after reports an 11th body was found in the Ekurhuleni municipality east of Johannesburg.

Call to action from the Falling Forward roadshow

In remarks shared while she was in the Eastern Cape for her Falling Forward roadshow, Rachel Kolisi said change will come only when men “sit down and have real and open conversations about GBV.”

“We remember the women whose deaths have made headlines. Each of their lives mattered. And so do the lives of the many women whose names we may never hear. Gender-based violence does not end when the headlines move on. Men need to have these conversations with one another, challenge what they see and take responsibility for change,”

she wrote. She added:

“Also super grateful to have spaces like @fallingforward__ where these conversion can be had!”

Context: body found in Ekurhuleni

The remarks followed media reports that an 11th body was found in the Ekurhuleni municipality. Gauteng police spokesperson Brigadier Brenda Muridili said the body was discovered in an open veld near Rhokana Road.

Siya Kolisi also urges men to act

Rachel Kolisi’s call came after a video shared on Instagram in which her ex-husband, Siya Kolisi, urged men to use their voices and platforms to speak out about GBV. In the video he said:

“It is our responsibility to make sure we use our voices and platforms…and I want to encourage all the other sporting teams in the country to speak up about what’s happening in our country. Because, we ask people to get behind us and they do, it’s time for us to also use our platform to make sure we are better. And also, to the men of our country, we need to acknowledge and accept that we are the problem here,”

He continued in the video:

“If we don’t do anything about it as men, how am I going to answer to my daughter? to my sister? And also, I’m failing my son by not educating myself in making sure that I’m better and he’s not not also going through the same problems as what I am going through. We just have to do better as men. We can’t just sit back and act like nothing is happening,”

What the voices mean

Both Rachel and Siya Kolisi called directly on men to acknowledge responsibility and to use conversation and platforms to drive change. Their statements linked public concern about the recent Ekurhuleni deaths to a broader push for men to engage actively in addressing GBV.