Gender-based violence activists in the Eastern Cape have thrown their weight behind justice and constitutional development minister Mmamoloko Kubayi’s rejection of calls to reinstate the death penalty.
They argue that stronger policing, prosecutions and harsher prison sentences — not executions — are the answer to violent crime.
This comes after Kubayi told a gender-based violence and femicide engagement in Libode this week that she would never support the return of capital punishment, warning that wrongful convictions could lead to innocent people being executed.
Speaking to the Dispatch on Wednesday, activists echoed her position, saying SA should instead strengthen investigations, prosecutions and the implementation of existing sentences.
The death penalty, introduced during apartheid for certain serious crimes, was abolished in 1995.
However, calls for its reinstatement regularly resurface following brutal murders and gender-based violence cases.
Addressing community members in Libode, Kubayi said the irreversible nature of capital punishment made it unacceptable.
“Even if you are sentenced today, we are able to come back and apologise that the person has been sentenced wrongly and return back to society.
“Others sue us and we pay that wrongful arrest damages.
“If we bring back the death penalty, what are we going to do because a life would be taken?
“We are people of God and He says no one must take a life.
“That is why as the minister, I say I know the pain of rape, to see a person who has been raped, the pain of children ending up on drugs and the pain of murder.
“My brother was murdered in 2012 and today the perpetrator never got convicted. I know that pain.
“I can never call for the death penalty. I ask you as women, even if you march, don’t march to say you want the death penalty,” Kubayi said.
She encouraged victims and community members to report crimes and seek help from authorities.
GBVF activist Dr Lesley Ann Foster said restoring the death penalty would do little to reduce violent crime.
“Why kill people who harm people to show people that harming people is wrong?
“The death penalty solves nothing because the punishment is immediate.
“Life in prison is far more frightening. We need effective policing, investigations, arrests and prosecutions.
“In the apartheid period, many black folk were wrongly hanged. We cannot take those chances again,” Foster said.
South African Human Rights Commission provincial manager Dr Eileen Carter said Kubayi’s position was consistent with the constitution.
“In S vs Makwanyane, the Constitutional Court held that the death penalty violates the rights to life and dignity and is irreversible, including where a person is later found to have been wrongly convicted.
“We understand the frustration behind calls for its return, particularly from survivors who feel failed by the criminal justice system.
“The real answer lies in better policing, investigations, forensic services, prosecutions, survivor protection and enforcement of sentences,” she said.
Carter said the SAHRC, together with its sister institutions, was calling for public submissions on the criminal justice system’s response to GBV.
Survivors can submit their experiences to ANqeto@sahrc.org.za.
The Rev Xolamzi Sam, of the Xolamzi Sam Foundation, said the debate remained emotionally charged, particularly after brutal crimes against women and children.
“While I understand why many South Africans call for its return, I remain opposed to the death penalty on humanitarian grounds.
“Families who have lost loved ones to violent crime are living with unimaginable pain, anger and grief.
“When they call for the death penalty, they are often expressing their trauma rather than making a constitutional argument.
“The government has a responsibility to uphold the constitution and explain why the death penalty is not an option, but it must also reassure victims and survivors that justice will be swift, effective and meaningful.
“The focus should be on strengthening investigations, ensuring successful prosecutions, imposing appropriate sentences and providing comprehensive support to victims and survivors,” he said.
Siyamthanda Ndlela, of the Indlezane Yezwe NGO, also backed Kubayi’s stance, saying the risk of wrongful convictions outweighed calls for executions.
“Once we proceed to the death penalty, we will have people killed for things they didn’t do, as we already have cases where people are falsely accused of crimes, especially rape.
“I support not having the death penalty back.
“Rather we must stick to the correctional methods that we have, but make them stricter because most inmates feel very relaxed in prison.
“They have too many rights and comforts. At least they must maximise the sentencing of these cases,” she said.
Daily Dispatch
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