JOHANNESBURG, Gauteng — A recent proposal by Rise Mzansi advocating for flexible working hours for female employees to ensure they travel during daylight has ignited a critical debate over women’s safety in South Africa. While the call emerges in the wake of the tragic murders of nine women in Ekurhuleni over two months, critics argue that such measures place an unfair economic burden on women rather than solving the country’s systemic violence crisis.
Tessa Dooms, Director at the Rivonia Circle, weighed in on the discussion, challenging the notion that asking women to reorganize their lives is a sensible emergency response. She argued that the proposal effectively asks women to pay an economic price for their safety because violent men and the state have failed them.
Dooms pointed out that much of the work women do in society is service-related and strictly time-bound. Roles such as domestic work, which often overlaps with childcare as parents leave for work, as well as jobs in restaurants and call centers, cannot easily be shifted. Consequently, reducing women’s working hours would directly reduce their wages, restricting their freedom of movement and economic independence in a society not designed for their safety.
The call for flexible hours follows heightened public alarm over the killings in Ekurhuleni, where patterns suggest the potential involvement of a targeted serial killer. However, Dooms emphasized that while these cases are striking, they are a snapshot of a much broader, ongoing violence problem. She noted that an average of seven women are murdered daily in South Africa. Furthermore, between 2025 and 2026, the country’s overall daily murder rate has hovered at approximately 58 people a day, encompassing men, gang violence, stabbings, and alcohol-related combat.
Crucially, Dooms highlighted that protective measures cannot simply focus on the times women are outside their homes, as statistics indicate that 60% of femicides and violence against women occur within their own homes.
Illustrating the absurdity of making women financially responsible for their own security, Dooms shared a recent anecdote about an Uber driver attempting to sell her pepper spray and a taser during a ride. She stressed that women should not have to purchase weapons to survive in a society with globally unacceptable levels of unsafety.
When addressing the Rise Mzansi leader’s proposal directly, Dooms stated that it misses the mark by solving a structural issue in a narrow sense and falsely assuming that daytime travel is inherently safe. She cited a Human Sciences Research Council study revealing that while 83% of South Africans feel unsafe walking in their own streets at night, that number only drops to about 40% during the day. She added that even daytime activities, such as women fetching water from communal taps or water tankers, have become dangerous due to targeted attacks.
The debate over late working timings has also drawn attention from major labor organizations, including the Federation of Unions of South Africa (FEDUSA) and the National Union of Hotel, Restaurant, Catering and Commercial Health and Allied Workers, who have echoed concerns about the hours women are expected to work.
However, Dooms argued that the focus must shift from reactive, stop-gap measures to proactive social engineering. She noted that in cities globally where women can walk safely at night, success is not solely defined by armed policing. Instead, it relies on functional street lighting—which she described as being at a “pandemic level” of failure in South Africa—vibrant evening economies that keep public spaces active, and dedicated safety infrastructure. She pointed to Japan, where 24-hour grocery stores are equipped as designated safety spots for women being followed, as a model of proactive environmental design.
Ultimately, Dooms called for a nuanced conversation about prevention and community accountability. She emphasized the need for connected communities that know their residents well enough to intervene when behavior escalates into dangerous territory. While Community Policing Forums (CPFs) are a good starting point, she concluded that a comprehensive social response is required to dismantle the culture of violence before it claims more lives.
