Hundreds of women took to the streets across South Africa on Friday, 21 November 2025, in a powerful stand against gender-based violence — and media personality Boity was right there with them.
The nationwide protest sparked controversy and spanned 15 cities, including Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town, Durban, and the Eastern Cape, with participants dressed in black and purple to symbolise both mourning and resistance. In a moving display, demonstrators lay down silently for 15 minutes, representing the 15 lives lost each day to gender-based violence in the country.
What made the march even more touching was the presence of men, survivors of abuse, and families of victims, with many holding posters to honour their loved ones who lost their lives in the hands of their partners.
GBVF declared a national disaster
On the same day as the march, 21 November 2025, Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Velenkosini Hlabisa, praised the decision by Dr. Bongani Sithole, head of the National Disaster Management Centre, to officially declare gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF) a national disaster under Section 23 of the Disaster Management Act of 2002. The centre stated that GBVF “now meets the threshold of a potential disaster as defined in the act.”
Standing in solidarity with others
Being a woman herself and standing in solidarity with others, Boity took to her Instagram to share powerful pictures and videos from the event and she captured the moments that resonated deeply with women across South Africa.
In her caption, she wrote:
“A nation will never be free until WOMEN are free!,” she wrote.
She then shared pictures from the event:
Lastly, here are the two videos Boity shared from the shutdown. Let’s watch:
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[…] HAVE YOU SEEN THIS ONE?: WATCH: Boity stood with hundreds of women in Women For Change’s National GBVF Shutdown […]