An activist says SA has lost the fight against GBV. [Picture: Nardus Engelbrecht/Gallo Images via Getty Images]
As South Africa joins the world in observing 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence (GBV), local activists fear it is a losing battle. This against the backdrop of sombre statistics and a floundering command centre.
The campaign was launched by the United Nations (UN) in 1991. Since then, governments and civil society organisations have used the period to wage efforts against GBV.
But there is a problem, says Omogolo Taunyane. The founder and executive director of GBV Monitor South Africa lamented the worrying picture on national television, in an interview with SABC News.
“The stats keep telling us that we
are not winning this war. That is exactly why we are of the position that this particular campaign has completely failed in South Africa’s context in trying to eradicate gender based violence from our communities.”
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The fight against GBV – a lost cause?
Taunyane premised her claim that the fight was lost on her observation that “there is no behavioural change”. At the same time, she suggests, the GBV Command Centre is on its way to failure.
Data from Statistics South Africa (StatsSA) paints a worrying picture about GBV in the country, already notorious for how dangerous it is for women. Of the domestic violence crimes documented in 2022/2023, 51 683 women were victims of common assault. Contrariwise, the figure stood at 11 175 for men.
“We’re seeing gruesome attacks on women and children. It is simply a campaign that has fallen flat,” she says.
Furthermore, President Cyril Ramaphosa’s administration has failed in its promise to set up a GBV Council. This has further strained the pace of action against GBV.
“We still don’t have a GBV council and this is almost three years later after the fact. We don’t have a gender-based violence [council] that was meant to be a crucial platform for the government to account not only to civil society organisations, but to society.”
Meanwhile, a dispute between social development minister Lindiwe Zulu service providers has placed the work of the GBV command centre on the brink of collapse.
“There is something happening at that command centre that is simply not okay. Whatever contractual dispute or whatever disagreement there may be between the minister and the service provider; and the disagreement between minister Zulu and her deputy; should not come at the cost of citizens who desperately need it.”
The centre, established in 2013, was meant to get GBV victims in touch with social workers. Now, a debacle between the department and service provider Brilliantel means the lines go unanswered and social workers have been dismissed. The fight against GBV seems to have been lost, she agrees.
