JOHANNESBURG - President Cyril Ramaphosa has called for greater action against gender-based violence perpetrators.
He has urged communities to confront abuse and hold those responsible to account.
Ramaphosa said the fight against the scourge must start at home.
He was speaking at the Synodal Men's Guild Conference of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church.
"We must refuse to excuse controlling behaviour as love. We must refuse to look away when we know that someone is being abused. We must refuse to protect perpetrators because they are our friends, our relatives, our colleagues or even members of our congregations.
"Silence cannot be our response to violence. For scripture reminds us that faith without works is dead. If we say that we believe in the dignity of every person and human being, then that belief must be visible in the way that we live, in the way that we speak, in the way that we believe, we behave.
"It must be visible in everything that we do. But it must also be visible in the way that we raise our children as well, particularly the boy child. It must be visible in the way that we treat women.
"It must also be visible in the courage with which we confront wrongdoing. Our covenant must also begin in the home. Fathers must understand that their sons are watching them.