South Africa’s largest metalworkers union, NUMSA, is set to join Friday’s National Shutdown as anger mounts over the country’s escalating levels of gender-based violence, femicide and attacks on children.
The union’s National Gender Structure confirmed it will lead a demonstration in Bloemfontein on November 21, backed by NUMSA members from the Northern Cape and Free State. Several SAFTU affiliates, including TASWU and NUPSAW, are also expected to participate.
NUMSA leaders say the action comes amid what they describe as a “national emergency”. Crime data analysed by AfricaCheck shows that between January and March this year, more than 5,700 people were murdered, including 837 women. That is an average of nine women killed daily.
Recent incidents have intensified public outrage.
In September, seven boys from a Soweto primary school were allegedly drugged and raped at gunpoint. Earlier this month, a seven-year-old girl in Atlantis was reportedly raped on school grounds. Both cases have renewed scrutiny on safety in schools and the state’s response to child protection failures.
NUMSA’s 2nd Deputy President, Puleng Phaka, said the shutdown is aimed at pressuring the government to move faster and more decisively. “Communities are terrified. Families are shattered. We cannot continue as if this is normal,” she said.
Civil society group Women for Change initially called for the nationwide demonstrations, urging South Africans to demand that GBV be treated as a top-tier priority rather than a recurring crisis.
The Bloemfontein protest is scheduled to begin at Hoffman Square at 11:00 on November 21. NUMSA has encouraged its members across the country to mobilise or join local demonstrations where possible.
