Turning His Hustle into a Growing Business
“My goal is to turn this small hustle into sustainable community impact” Mpho, also known as Gold, is a young man from Mangaung in the Free State who loves working
South African women are once again reeling from the news that the bodies of nine women have been found in Ekurhuleni over the past two months. The cases have shocked the country and prompted renewed calls for action on gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF).
While these cases are shocking, there is another uncomfortable reality to confront: much of the violence experienced by women and girls happens within relationships and families, and the perpetrator is often someone they know. Data collected through NACOSA’s post-violence care programme found that 70% of sexual assault survivors knew the person who assaulted them.
This matters because violence does not begin with femicide. There are a host of warning signs and opportunities to intervene. Women and girls experiencing domestic and sexual violence need access to services that can help them get to safety, understand their rights, access medical and psychosocial care, obtain protection and navigate the justice system.
Yet the organisations providing these services are themselves under increasing pressure.
The National Shelter Movement of South Africa, which supports around 100 shelters nationally, reported this month that approximately 90% of shelters in its network are struggling with funding and other forms of support. And many highly experienced and effective community organisations working in the field of GBVF are facing dwindling resources at a time when it is needed the most.
South Africa has declared GBVF a national disaster and has a National Strategic Plan for GBVF. But it feels as if nothing has changed. A declaration and a national plan should be more than just paper and theory, it must translate into sustained resources for the organisations and community structures that are providing services to survivors every day.
People are taking to the streets and social media to express their outrage. And because they don’t know what else they can do to bring about change. While public pressure matters, we also need to turn this energy into practical support and sustained accountability.
If you are able to donate, support an organisation working in your community. Ask your employer, business or community organisation to contribute. And continue to put pressure on government and business to provide sustainable funding for the frontline organisations doing this work.
A small donation will not solve South Africa’s GBVF crisis. But collectively, public support can help organisations keep their doors open while we push for the much larger and sustained investment that is needed.
We also urgently need regular, accurate and publicly accessible data on GBVF. How can we begin to address a problem that we don’t fully understand? We need to know how many cases are being reported, where they are occurring, the ages and genders of survivors and victims, the type of offence, whether the perpetrator was known to the person affected, and how many applications for protection orders are being made and granted; and the reasons why they are not granted. What are the blockages in the justice system? How much of a role does poverty play? Where are systems and support failing victims?
Without reliable data, it is difficult to identify hotspots, understand patterns, direct resources or measure whether interventions are working.
As academic and journalist Nechama Brodie has argued, data allows us to understand GBVF as both a national crisis and a local problem, helping identify the provinces, metros and police stations that require particular attention.
Community-led monitoring at local level can strengthen national datasets and, triangulated with national statistics, can provide a more nuanced picture. This approach has been used to good effect in the HIV response.
The lesson from South Africa’s HIV response is clear: we cannot tackle a major public health and social crisis effectively if we do not understand its scale and patterns.
South Africa has already set targets for its GBVF response through the National Strategic Plan on GBVF. The challenge is ensuring that these targets are properly resourced, monitored and reported on, with reliable data showing whether we are making progress.
The global HIV response adopted clear targets, including UNAIDS’ 95-95-95 fast-track strategy, alongside detailed surveillance, monitoring and investment to track progress towards ending AIDS as a public health threat.
GBVF needs the same level of ambition, focus and coordination. That means being able to see, year by year, whether the response is actually reducing violence and improving safety.
The government has said that the national disaster classification will strengthen coordination and allow resources to be directed towards impactful interventions. Its 2026 plans include strengthening survivor-centred support, shelters, one-stop service centres, mobile and rural outreach and the justice response.
We don’t need another set of promises. We need to properly resource the existing strategy, collect the data required to measure progress and make the results visible. Now we need to see those commitments translated into adequately funded services and transparent reporting.
The nine women whose lives have been lost deserve more than another cycle of outrage, marches and statements.
They deserve action that prevents the next woman from becoming a statistic.
If you are able to donate, consider supporting an organisation working to protect women and girls and support survivors, here are a few that NACOSA has worked with:
Free post-violence care is available through centres across South Africa and can include medical, emotional and legal support.
Lifeline: 0800 150 150
Childline: 116
GBV Command Centre: 0800 428 428
USSD: 1207867# (“Please Call Me”)
SMS: Text “help” to 31531 for persons with disabilities
“My goal is to turn this small hustle into sustainable community impact” Mpho, also known as Gold, is a young man from Mangaung in the Free State who loves working
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