From a young age, Dr Zubeda Dangor was driven by a need to help others. This calling would eventually place her at the forefront of the fight against gender-based violence (GBV) in South Africa.
Deeply rooted in her experiences under apartheid and her work in Lenasia, her journey highlights a persistent struggle for justice, funding and systemic change. Despite significant progress, she notes that for activists, “the wheels of change are very slow”. This reality that fuels her continued advocacy.
Dr Dangor’s path was solidified during her volunteer work and later internship at hospitals like Sterkfontein and Tara. She was struck by the stark disparities in healthcare and the harsh realities faced by Black communities under the apartheid regime.
“What struck me was that the difference between the two services,” she recalled. In Soweto, she would see “a host of children waiting for us to be seen in counseling sessions,” often arriving alone because their parents feared losing their jobs if they took time off.
This was in sharp contrast to the concerns of parents in affluent suburbs. “The reality of life was very, very different for us,” she explained, adding that supervisors “never came out to check on what was actually going on in the townships.” This profound inequality “stirred something in me to suggest that I need to do something.”
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Forging a path in Lenasia
Initially, Dr Dangor did not intend to establish her organisation, Nisaa Institute for Women’s Development, in Lenasia. After leaving a “patriarchal environment” at a previous job, funders who had witnessed her community work approached her. ”
They called me and said, if you want to start something, we will fund you,” she said. After an unsuccessful search for a suitable space in Soweto and surrounding areas, the suggestion was made: “why don’t you try finding something in Lenesia then? And that’s how we in fact started working in Lenasia.”
Lenasia, a suburb south of Johannesburg, Gauteng, was originally established under the Group Areas Act to house people of Indian descent. It has since become a diverse area. As Dr Dangor notes, has “produced a number of activists and amazing people with wonderful potential.” Despite its history, it became the base from which her work would grow to a national and international scale.
However, the work was not without its local challenges. Tackling GBV meant confronting uncomfortable truths within the community. “I found that there were actually some community members, high-profile community members, that were actually abusing their wives. And so they were not really interested in helping us,” she revealed. This resistance underscored the sensitive nature of an issue that was “often swept under the carpet.”
From its base in Lenasia, Nisaa now runs many programmes, including a shelter for abused women and children, school-based interventions, research partnerships and capacity-building training. The organisation’s impact grew to the point where it played a pivotal role in establishing the National Shelter Movement of South Africa, which was “born in Lenasia at Nisaa,” to combat the siloed nature of activism.
Despite these achievements, Dr Dangor remains critical of the slow pace of systemic progress. While the post-1994 era presented a “huge window of opportunity,” she observes that this window has since narrowed.
“Although our government says that they are committed to eradicating gender-based violence, we don’t see policy turned into implementation,” she stated, pointing to severe funding shortages as a major obstacle.
This battle continues to define her work, as she believes the slow wheels of change must be pushed forward for the sake of future generations. “We keep advocating for women because we know that if we assist women, we assist their children, we assist their families as well.”
Image: Najma Khota in conversation with Dr Zubeda Dangor.
