Women’s League mulls over backing death penalty return

The ANC Women’s League is consulting legal experts on the possibility of taking up the struggle of calling for a referendum on the death penalty.

This comes amid the discovery of the dead bodies of nine women in Ekurhuleni over the past week, which has reignited the debate over the scourge of gender-based violence in South Africa.

But the ANCWL believes that the endemic violence directed against women has gotten out of control and that all solutions attempted so far have fallen flat.

In this context, the contentious discussion about reinstating the death penalty, abolished three decades ago, has resurfaced.

The Women’s League says it will not impose its views on the matter but calls for open and constructive debate, which might be finally settled through a referendum among all South Africans of voting age.

According to Women’s League secretary-general Nokuthula Nqaba, marching and night vigils were clearly not having the desired impact.

It was high time to revisit the death penalty debate and explore whether it could be one of the instruments that could act as a deterrent against violent crimes.

This matter was debated at the Women’s League special national executive committee meeting on Thursday, and all unanimously agreed that reopening the death penalty discussion responsibly is the way to go.

“Our special NEC this week acknowledged that there is an outcry in society for the return of the death penalty and that the debate should be allowed to take place so that through public discussions and participation, the relevant ministers can guide us as to what should happen moving forward,” Nqaba said.

“We are alive to the provisions of our constitution and the right to life, particularly, hence we cannot just say ‘bring back the death penalty’ but rather are saying, ‘open up the debate and let the people discuss and decide’.

“In such a way that it asks the question about criminals who are serial killers killing innocent people who continue to enjoy their right to life. So the right to life applies to perpetrators and not survivors?”

Nqaba said for its part in this debate, the Women’s League had started a process of consulting legal experts to assist them.

And they were inviting everyone in society to have their say, which must culminate in a referendum to give everyone a voice.

“We are advocating for this matter to be settled through a referendum by the look of things. At the moment we are consulting lawyers on how we go about shaping our stance in a responsible manner that is within the confines of the law.

“But the Constitution must be put to the test; we cannot continue in this way. Let us follow due process and see how that goes, but we will be patient.”

The stance of the Women’s League was triggered by the latest developments in Kempton Park, where bodies of women were discovered in what some speculate to be the work of a serial killer.

At the time of writing, no suspect had been apprehended for the killings.

Nqaba said that this was proof that changing gears and approach was the only way to go.

Doing away with the death penalty in 1995, she said, might have been relevant at that time, but the material conditions of today were different.

She said: “We have tried everything and anything possible to fight GBV and violent crimes broadly, and it just never ends. We are saying we will support any groundbreaking and viable solution to deal with this catastrophe.

“Everything that has been placed on the table so far has been proven beyond doubt that it does not work. A case in point, last year GBV was declared a disaster, but we are now talking about bodies of murdered women in Kempton Park. Clearly that too did not work.”