SA has heard enough speeches about gender-based violence, crime and the safety of our citizens. What the country needs now is not another carefully prepared political statement, another campaign slogan or another presidential address. South Africans need to see results.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has repeatedly spoken about the fight against GBVF. Government has introduced programmes, legislation and structures intended to strengthen the response to GBVF. The National Council on GBVF Act was enacted in 2024, and the government has subsequently announced further measures to strengthen law enforcement and support for victims.
But here is the question ordinary South Africans are entitled to ask: When do speeches become measurable action?
Because when a family loses a mother, daughter, sister or child to a violent criminal, no speech can bring that person back. When a business is robbed, infrastructure is destroyed, CCTV cameras are vandalised, electrical equipment is stolen or a community becomes afraid to walk its streets after dark, the government cannot simply point to another strategy document. The test of government is what happens on the ground.
Ramaphosa himself acknowledged in his 2025 state of the nation address that detective services needed additional personnel and that the government intended expanding surveillance, analytics and smart-policing capabilities.
That acknowledgement should lead to a much bigger national conversation: Are we investing enough in the machinery that actually catches criminals and secures convictions?
A police station should be more than a building with an SAPS sign outside. It requires properly trained personnel, detectives who can investigate cases, functioning vehicles, telecommunications, forensic support, evidence management, intelligence, information systems and modern technology. The same principle must apply to public safety infrastructure. If communities invest in CCTV cameras to protect public spaces, those systems must be treated as part of the community's security infrastructure.
Our constitution protects extensive rights, including rights afforded to accused persons. Those protections exist because the state must prove guilt through a lawful process rather than punish people on accusation.
But rights must operate alongside the rights of victims and the broader public.
There must be a serious national debate about whether the balance between individual rights, victims' rights and public safety is working as effectively as it should.
The death penalty is an especially contentious part of that debate.
That debate should not be shut down simply because it is uncomfortable.
For decades, the ANC has been the dominant governing party in SA. That means it cannot avoid political accountability for the successes and failures of governments it has led.
That does not mean every ANC member is responsible for every failure.
Nor does it mean the liberation legacy of struggle stalwarts such as Nelson Mandela, Oliver Tambo, Walter Sisulu and Steve Biko should be erased from history.
But historical credentials cannot become a permanent shield against contemporary accountability.
Ultimately, citizens have the constitutional right to decide which political parties and candidates deserve their support. That decision should not be based solely on party history, slogans, personalities or election promises. It should be based on questions of performance, accountability, policy, implementation and measurable outcomes.
The coming elections will once again give South Africans an opportunity to examine the record of those seeking their votes. The question should not simply be: "Who gives the best speech? " It should be: "Who has a credible plan, the capacity to implement it, and the willingness to be held accountable when it fails?"
South Africa does not need more political theatre. It needs functioning institutions. It needs professional policing. It needs effective detectives. It needs courts capable of processing cases efficiently. It needs properly protected public infrastructure. It needs meaningful support for victims. It needs serious action against organised crime and violent offenders.
And above all, it needs a government that understands that public safety is not a public-relations exercise. The people of South Africa are not asking for miracles. They are asking for something much more basic. And that should never be too much to ask. - Burton Brown, Gqeberha