After days of national outrage about violence against women, together with the deaths of at least 10 people in Gauteng as a result of xenophobic conflict, President Cyril Ramaphosa finally addressed South Africa directly in a TV broadcast on Thursday evening. Pleading for calm, he pledged measures to address gender-based violence and called for 'engagement' on grievances involving immigrants.

It was a week in which the streets of Cape Town and Johannesburg seethed with protest and violence. And on the fourth day, the president finally spoke.

In the course of a 20-minute address broadcast on TV on Thursday night, President Cyril Ramaphosa attempted to quench the conflagration of national anger and frustration sparked in recent days.

While the ostensible purpose of the address was to respond to the demands of thousands of protesters who have marched on Parliament two days in a row demanding a more urgent response to violence against women, Ramaphosa could also not ignore the outbreak of xenophobic violence and looting that has seized parts of Gauteng.

The president thus described South Africa as "deeply traumatised" twice over: first by "acts of extreme violence perpetrated by men against women and children", and second by "acts of violence...