President Cyril Ramaphosa finally came out of the World Economic Forum on Africa (WEF) to address protesters gathered outside Parliament in Cape Town.
Addressing the hostile crowd, the president said he would address the nation within an hour. [UPDATE: The address has now be rescheduled for 18h00.]
He also said he would visit the family of Uyinene Mrwetyana in the Eastern Cape on Friday.
Ramaphosa received a memorandum from the protesters, which included a demand that a state of emergency be declared to address gender-based violence.
The president also promised to address the issues raised in the memorandum, including harsher penalties and no parole or bail for perpetrators.
He said he agreed with the protesters’ clarion call that “enough is enough” and that there is need for emergency measures.
All of us have had enough of this and we are now going to take action to protect the women of our country.
We are also gong to strengthen the criminal justice system so that the police, the prosecutors and our judicial system must know that crimes that have been committed against women and children are priority crimes.
Cyril Ramaphosa
The crowd alternately jeered and cheered the president as he made his address.