Call to Make the DNA Act Operational

Proactive or reactive? A reflection on the Presidency’s attitude towards ongoing violence

OPINION PIECE by Mbali Shongwe

For as long as I can remember, I have always had a strong cognition towards optimism and trusting that the majority of people are naturally inclined to do the right thing. Whether it’s returning something that you’re able to identify as lost or calling for help if you’re privy to unnerving behaviour, I just assumed it was a universal hardwiring in which we all knew that doing good deeds contributed positively to the spaces around us and would thus have a meaningful impact when they were returned to us as well. However, living in present day South Africa has significantly distorted this understanding for me and without even being conscious to it, I have realised the many ways in which my utopian orientation towards humanity is deeply flawed.?

Day-in and day-out, we are privy to the ongoing violence and general disregard for human-life that is occurring around us at any given moment. Over the past few years, gender-based violence (which has been branded as the “shadow” pandemic) and gruesome murders have become a norm to the extent that most of us don’t even flinch when we hear of group killings or serial rapists anymore. The most terrifying part of it all for me though is the nonchalant stance taken by those in power who are inevitably more exposed to these atrocities and their grisly specifics than we are as the general public. Despite the continuous stream of cases that emerge on a daily basis, we have seen no tangible changes that have been implemented which aim to increase security and protection for all citizens (with priority towards women and children) or deter violent criminals by actually reprimanding them and holding them accountable for their crimes.?

It’s disturbing to see how much manpower can be allocated to checking license discs at random intervals or even the obsessive monitoring of drinking we saw during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic but no such efforts have been afforded towards the real issues that result in many more lives lost every single day to rampant violence. This forces one to confront the reality that we are dealing with a government that is not concerned about us in the slightest and even less concerned when it comes to the issues that plague our society, that have us ranked as one of the most dangerous countries in the world.

One thing we do not have is silent leadership but rather leadership that devotes its airtime to endless empty promises which we never see actioned or taken seriously. On the 14th of December 2022, President Cyril Ramaphosa assented to the DNA Act which makes it compulsory for schedule 8 offenders to have their DNA samples taken before release. However, this Act much like many proposed anti-GBV interventions has not warranted any change because of delays in announcement of an operational date for reasons that have not been made clear to the public. Each day that the Act sits on a desk without being made operational, is a day that violent offenders are absolved from their potential responsibility in a plethora of crimes. This begs the question, are we witness to an active or passive government and is said government proactive or reactive? Unfortunately, the answer is glaringly clear. Our leadership is often led to action change or take responsibility because of embarrassment or shame and rarely do they act from a place that seeks to prioritise the common good. As disconcerting as this may be for us all, the only way for us to shift this behaviour is to apply pressure to achieve the change we want. It is up to us, to come together and use our individual voices to unite over an issue that is of benefit to us all. We all hope for a safer South Africa, one that we can be proud to call our home. Use your platform to raise the flag and demand intention and haste from the Presidency on setting an operational date. Every contribution counts.

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Mbali Shongwe is a History and Sociology graduate from the University of the Witwatersrand. She is the founder of Mindful(l) Organisation, a mental health non-profit which aims to destigmatize mental illness and provide access to mental health tools for South African youth in need. A social activist at heart, Mbali promotes the importance of intersectionality. By shining light on the injustices she has experienced based on her race, sexuality, sexual assault and mental illness, she aims to show that these multiple identities are not mutually exclusive and of equal importance.