Duchess to speak out on ‘gender violence’ in S Africa

THE Duchess of Sussex will tackle the highly charged issue of ‘gender violence’ head-on when she arrives in South Africa on Monday.

It is understood that Meghan intends to raise the issue within hours of touching down in Cape Town as she and Prince Harry visit an impoverished township in the city on the first morning of their nineday official visit to Africa.

South Africa has been hit by nationwide protests over the past few weeks after a series of murders of women, and the country’s president has admitted that he is struggling to cope with the crisis.

Among the murders was that of Uyinene Mrwetyana, 19, a student from Cape Town who was raped and bludgeoned to death with a set of scales in a post office.

The violence involved in her murder sparked national outrage even in a country where, according to the World Health Organisation, the rate of ‘femicide’ [women being murdered] is already five times the global average. Women’s minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane said this week that more than 0 women were killed by their spouses last month alone.

On Wednesday, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced an emergency plan to stop the resurgence in violence against women. During an emergency sitting in the National Assembly, he admitted that South Africa was one of ‘the most unsafe places in the world to be a woman’. Visiting members of the Royal Family tend to shy away from getting involved in the politics of their host country.

But sources close to Meghan and Harry confirm that they will speak about gender violence. ‘It would be strange for them not to address it in the current climate given how much of their official programme, particularly the duchess’s, is about women and women’s issues,’ a source said. ‘But it will, of course, be done respectfully.’

The couple are taking their four-monthold son Archie with them, but there is no guarantee the public will get to see him.