GBV is a second pandemic hitting South Africa: President Ramaphosa

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa delivers his Women's Day 2020 message on Sunday 9 August 2020. /Photo courtesy: South African Presidency.

South Africa, the worst-hit African country by the COVID-19 pandemic, faces a second crisis; gender-based violence, President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Sunday.

The president made the remarks as he led his country in marking Women's Day.

"As we mark Women's Day this year, South Africa is in the grip of two pandemics - the coronavirus pandemic and the scourge of gender-based violence and femicide," he said.

"This cannot continue. We can no longer as a nation ignore the deafening cries of women and children for protection, for help and for justice."

South Africa is one of Africa's countries that report the most cases of gender-based violence, a fact that has caught President Ramaphosa's attention in the past.

In September 2019, President Ramaphosa pledged new laws to better protect the country's women, following a spike in cases of gender-based violence.

"To enhance the safety of women we are going to, as a matter of urgency, make the necessary amendments to our laws and policies to ensure that perpetrators of gender-based violence are brought to book," said the president.

In his address on Sunday, President Ramaphosa pledged to intensify South Africa's quest to end gender-based violence and outlined various actions his administration will focus on towards this cause.

The actions include helping women beat poverty by facilitating women-owned businesses and facilitating more land ownership for women.

"At the same time, we will be calling on AU member states to put policies in place to increase women's ownership of land to 30%," he said.