"It is disturbing that during a time of such immense difficulty for our country, women and girls are being terrorised inside their own homes, forcing them to make desperate calls for help," Ramaphosa wrote in his weekly newsletter, four days after he extended the lockdown until the end of April.

He said the number of calls to the gender-based violence national command centre have increased since the lockdown began on March 27, and police have so far arrested 148 suspects for gender-based violence.

"We are aware that the restrictions that have been placed on people’s movement and the confinement to their homes is a frustration for many.  But there is no excuse, nor will there ever be any excuse, for violence – against women, children, the elderly, members of the LGBTQI+ community, foreign nationals, nor against anyone."

Ramaphosa said the majority of South Africans were respecting the rules of the lockdown, as well as the rights of others, but some were "seeking to exploit this crisis for their own sinister ends".

"Our hearts go out to the family of Mama Ngenzeni Zuma who was raped and killed in KwaZulu-Natal last month by men who allegedly pretended to be soldiers to gain entry into her home," the president said.

"We feel the pain of the family of 14-year-old Simphiwe Sibeko who went missing from her Soweto home, and whose body was found dumped in bushes last week."

Ramaphosa said it was an indictment of South African society that schools were being torched during the lockdown and that Eskom has noted increasing vandalism of its infrastructure and an increase in cable theft.

"When the lockdown is lifted and learning resumes, thousands of our children will have no school to return to, depriving them of the right to education," he said.

The damage to Eskom's property has caused power cuts and will cost a considerable sum to repair.

"It is despicable that criminals are using this period of the lockdown as a cover to break the law at a time when our law-enforcement authorities are occupied with supporting the national effort to contain the pandemic."

Ramaphosa urged communities to report vandalism, saying if they failed to do so, they became silents partners to sabotage.

"They seldom take place in the absence of witnesses. When communities allow themselves to be passive bystanders when they witness crime, they become party to the sabotage that ultimately disadvantages ourselves, our children and our communities.
 
"I have a message for those callous criminals who think they can take advantage. The criminal justice system is not on leave," he added.

Ramaphosa said he has instructed the police ministry to reinforce the presence at police stations of specialised units dealing with family violence and sexual offences beyond the lockdown.

"Some have called for a gender-based violence ‘ceasefire’ during the time of the pandemic. This is not enough. We want to see it end, once and for all.This is not enough. We want to see it end, once and for all."

African News Agency