JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South Africa's president Cyril Ramaphosa is vowing to crack down on perpetrators of violence against women, after thousands of protesters gathered on the streets of central Cape Town this week demanding the government address the issue.

In a video statement aired Thursday evening, President Cyril Ramaphosa called recent attacks "a crime against our common humanity."

Ramaphosa promised a raft of reforms but stopped short of declaring a state of emergency, one of the demands of demonstrators who have clashed with police in front of the convention center where the World Economic Forum on Africa is underway.

There has been widespread outrage in South Africa over the last week following reports of several women being raped and murdered.