‘Their blood is on your hands’: Women For Change’s fury at Ramaphosa

A single Instagram post has reignited one of South Africa’s most powerful protest movements.

This time, the fury is aimed directly at the country’s president.

WHO IS WOMEN FOR CHANGE?

Women For Change (WFC) is a South African nonprofit.

It was founded in 2016 by Sabrina Walter, a German-born marketing professional who settled in the country in 2010.

What began as a small women’s running club grew into one of the country’s most influential advocacy movements against gender-based violence and femicide.

It’s built almost entirely on grassroots organising, petitions, and public mobilisation.

WHAT THEY’VE ALREADY ACHIEVED

In 2025, WFC’s petition calling for GBVF to be declared a National Disaster gathered more than 1.1 million signaturesworldwide. 

Walter addressed the opening of the G20 Social Summit in Johannesburg on 18 November that year.

Just two days later, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the classification would go ahead.

On 21 November 2025, hundreds of thousands of people took part in a nationwide shutdown.

They lay down in 15 minutes of collective silence at sites across the country and internationally, to honour victims of gender-based violence. 

Walter’s work on that campaign later saw her named among Time’s 100 Most Influential People of 2026.

THE LETTER THAT’S GONE UP NOW

This week, following the discovery of an eighth body linked to the Ekurhuleni murders, Walter published an open letter to Ramaphosa on WFC’s Instagram.

It accuses his government of failing to follow through on last year’s historic declaration.

She argues that despite the National Disaster classification, no implementation plan, dedicated budget, or measurable targets have materialised nearly a year later.

She points out that the country doesn’t even know how many women have been killed since the classification, because updated statistics still haven’t been released.

She estimates roughly 250 more women have died in that time.

The letter names several specific, painful cases to make her point.

That includes Whitney’s daughter Gaby, murdered in Ekurhuleni in May 2023 with her killer still unidentified, and Elizabeth Moselakgomo’s eight-year-old daughter, who waited for a mother who never came home.

Her closing line to the president is blunt: “Their blood is on your hands.”

WHAT’S NEXT

WFC has announced its next major action for;

 Saturday, 21 November 2026.

Exactly a year after the original shutdown.

The campaign’s own tagline for the date leaves little room for interpretation: “Because nothing has changed.”

DO YOU THINK ADVOCACY GROUPS LIKE WOMEN FOR CHANGE ARE MAKING A REAL DIFFERENCE?