ANC Women’s League calls for death penalty debate in South Africa

In South Africa, the African National Congress (ANC) Women’s League plans to seek the resumption of public debate on the death penalty and the castration of sex offenders. The initiative was announced after the deaths of nine women in Ekurhuleni, who are described in the article as victims of femicide, Daily Maverick reports.

ANC Deputy Secretary-General Nomvula Mokonyane, who visited the Ekurhuleni community, said there was a need to strengthen the fight against gender-based violence and femicide. She also said that the ANC Women’s League would advocate for a return to discussion of the death penalty, abolished by South Africa’s Constitutional Court in 1996.

Position of the ANC Women’s League

ANC Women’s League Secretary-General Nokuthula Nkabane said the issue was considered at a special meeting of the national executive committee. According to her, participants unanimously supported the need to open a discussion on the death penalty.

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Nkabane noted that the league takes constitutional provisions into account, including the right to life, and therefore is not simply calling for the return of the death penalty. According to her, the organization wants citizens to discuss the issue. She also said that the league is seeking legal opinions on possible next steps and hopes ultimately to put the issue to a referendum.

Constitutional Court ruling

In its 1996 ruling in S v Makwanyane and Mchunu, South Africa’s Constitutional Court found the death penalty to be cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. The court’s then president, Arthur Chaskalson, stressed that the rights to life and dignity are the most important human rights.

The article also cites the position of Justice Tholie Madala: abolishing the death penalty does not mean condoning murders, rapes or armed robberies. He noted that a greater deterrent effect of the death penalty compared with life imprisonment had not been proven. Daily Maverick also refers to research by the Brennan Center for Justice, according to which many serious crimes are committed impulsively, without regard to possible punishment.

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