Key Takeaways
- Runners in Ekurhuleni delivered a memorandum to Kempton Park Police Station demanding a safer environment for women who run.
- The action follows the murder of nine women in the area, including runner Elizabeth “Tsontso” Moselakgomo, highlighting a disturbing pattern of gender‑based violence (GBV).
- Tumi Sole, founder of Running With Sole, called the killings an epidemic and urged the state, city, and police to enforce existing laws and improve basic infrastructure such as streetlights and pothole repairs.
- The memorandum stresses that preventive measures should not wait for another tragedy; proactive policing, lighting, and road maintenance are essential to protect women’s right to move freely in public spaces.
- Community members and activists echoed the call for accountability, urging authorities to treat GBV as a priority and to allocate resources for both immediate safety upgrades and long‑term prevention programs.
Background of the Protest
On a crisp morning in Kempton Park, a group of local runners gathered outside the police station, holding banners and wearing reflective vests. Their purpose was clear: to hand over a memorandum that outlines concrete steps the authorities must take to curb the rising tide of violence against women in Ekurhuleni. The demonstration was not isolated; it emerged in the wake of a series of brutal killings that have shaken the community and drawn national attention to the severity of gender‑based violence in South Africa’s Gauteng province.
The Memorandum Handed Over
The document, signed by dozens of runners and supportive residents, lists three primary demands. First, it calls for an immediate audit and repair of all non‑functioning streetlights in residential and commercial corridors where pedestrians and joggers frequently travel. Second, it urges the municipality to prioritize the filling of dangerous potholes that force runners onto unsafe verges or into traffic lanes. Third, it requests a visible increase in police patrols during early‑morning and evening hours, coupled with community‑policing initiatives that build trust between law‑enforcement officers and residents. Each demand is framed as a basic service delivery issue that, if addressed, would significantly reduce opportunities for perpetrators to isolate and attack victims.
Running With Sole’s Statement
Tumi Sole, the founder of the running collective Running With Sole, spoke passionately at the handover. She characterized the recent murders as part of a broader “epidemic of GBV” that permeates South African society. Sole emphasized that the runners are not merely mourning lost friends; they are taking a stand to prevent future tragedies. She highlighted the names of Elizabeth “Tsontso” Moselakgomo, Itemeleng Kekana, and Gracious Nkomo—three of the nine women killed—as a reminder that each statistic represents a life, a family, and a community left grieving. Sole’s appeal was both emotional and pragmatic: she asked authorities to honor the victims by enforcing existing legislation designed to protect women and to treat public safety as a non‑negotiable municipal responsibility.
Demands for Safer Streets
The memorandum’s focus on streetlights and potholes may appear tangential to a conversation about violence, yet urban safety experts consistently link poor lighting and deteriorated infrastructure to higher crime rates. Dim or broken streetlights create concealment spots where assailants can lurk, while uneven roads force pedestrians onto the carriageway, increasing vulnerability to both traffic accidents and opportunistic attacks. By demanding the repair of these amenities, the runners are invoking a well‑established criminological principle: improving the physical environment can deter criminal behavior and enhance the perceived safety of public spaces.
Call for Enforcement of Existing Laws
South Africa possesses a robust legal framework aimed at combating GBV, including the Domestic Violence Act, the Sexual Offences Act, and the recently enacted National Strategic Plan on Gender‑Based Violence and Femicide. Despite these statutes, implementation gaps persist, particularly in under‑resourced municipalities like Ekurhuleni. The memorandum explicitly calls on the Kempton Park Police Station and the provincial SAPS to “enforce the laws we already have” rather than waiting for new legislation. This includes ensuring that protective orders are swiftly processed, that investigators receive adequate training on trauma‑informed interviewing, and that perpetrators are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
Response from Authorities
As of the time of the handover, representatives from the Kempton Park Police Station acknowledged receipt of the memorandum and pledged to forward its contents to the relevant municipal departments and the provincial commissioner’s office. They noted that routine patrols have been increased in certain hotspots and that a task force has been formed to investigate the recent spate of femicides. However, community leaders cautioned that promises must be translated into tangible outcomes—working streetlights, repaired roads, and visible police presence—before trust can be rebuilt.
Broader GBV Context in South Africa
The Ekurhuleni murders are emblematic of a national crisis. According to the South African Police Service, femicide rates in the country are among the highest globally, with a woman killed by an intimate partner every three hours on average. Contributing factors include entrenched patriarchal norms, economic inequality, substance abuse, and systemic failures in the criminal‑justice system. While grassroots movements like Running With Sole raise awareness and demand accountability, lasting change requires coordinated action across government sectors, civil society, and the private sector to address both the symptoms and root causes of violence.
Community Reaction and Next Steps
The runners’ initiative resonated widely on social media, with hashtags such as #RunForSafety and #JusticeForTsontso trending locally. Local businesses offered to donate lighting fixtures, and neighborhood watch groups volunteered to assist with monitoring poorly lit corridors. Looking ahead, the organizers plan to host a series of community forums where residents can directly engage with municipal officials, present data on crime hotspots, and co‑design safety audits. They also intend to collaborate with schools to educate young people about consent, respectful relationships, and by‑stander intervention—efforts aimed at fostering a culture where violence is neither tolerated nor ignored.
Conclusion
The memorandum handed over to Kempton Park Police Station encapsulates a simple yet powerful message: women should be able to run, walk, and live in their neighborhoods without fear. By linking the immediate need for better streetlights and road repairs to the broader imperative of enforcing GBV legislation, the activists are demanding a holistic approach to safety—one that treats infrastructure, policing, and social norms as interlocking levers for protection. Whether the authorities will meet these demands remains to be seen, but the runners have made clear that they will not stay silent until the streets of Ekurhuleni are truly safe for everyone.