22/10/2026
MEDIA RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ILITHA LABANTU CALLS ON GOVERNMENT TO MOVE BEYOND GBVF PROMISES, ADDRESS PERSISTENT FAILURES IN IMPLEMENTATION AND TURN COMMITMENTS INTO MEANINGFUL ACTION
Ilitha Labantu expresses serious concern over the adequacy of the financial allocations announced in the 2026 Medium Term Budget Policy Statement towards addressing Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF). While the R3.8 billion allocated towards recruiting more than 3,500 social workers, alongside additional funding for forensic investigations, specialised courts and Thuthuzela Care Centres, represents a substantial financial commitment, such announcements are not new. Year after year, government makes similar commitments to strengthen the country's response to GBVF, yet the lived realities of survivors and the conditions within affected communities continue to expose significant gaps between policy pronouncements and actual implementation.
The concern is not simply whether additional funding has been announced, but whether these commitments will translate into tangible improvements in prevention, survivor support, access to justice and institutional accountability. South Africa has progressive legislative frameworks and a comprehensive National Strategic Plan on GBVF. However, repeated commitments have done little to address the persistent failures in implementation, weak institutional accountability and the structural conditions that continue to perpetuate violence. Government must demonstrate how these latest allocations will produce measurable outcomes rather than becoming another set of commitments that fail to materialise.
Furthermore, the national response to GBVF cannot be premised on a blanket approach that assumes communities experience violence under the same conditions or have identical support requirements. The nature and extent of violence, access to services and underlying socioeconomic conditions differ considerably across communities. Interventions must therefore be informed by local realities, with resources allocated according to the specific needs, vulnerabilities and service delivery gaps within affected areas. A uniform approach risks overlooking these differences, undermining the effectiveness of implementation and leaving communities without the targeted interventions required to address their circumstances. Government must move towards a differentiated, evidence-based approach that recognises the intersectional nature of violence and ensures that interventions are appropriately designed, resourced and implemented.
The allocation towards recruiting additional social workers must also be considered within the realities of the environments in which these professionals are expected to operate. Social workers and other frontline practitioners working in high-risk communities are confronted with complex social challenges, exposure to criminal activity and threats to their personal safety. There have also been instances in which practitioners working within the social development and community safety sectors have been targeted or intimidated by criminal elements. These conditions further complicate efforts to provide consistent and effective services.
Increasing the number of social workers without adequately addressing their occupational safety, security and operational support requirements risks expanding the workforce without necessarily strengthening its effectiveness. Resources must address not only the needs of survivors and communities requiring support, but also the conditions, safety and institutional capacity of the professionals responsible for delivering those services. This includes appropriate safety protocols, psychosocial support, adequate supervision, accessible referral networks and the operational resources required to work effectively in high-risk environments.
Of particular concern is the financial sustainability of non-governmental organisations and community-based organisations that provide essential frontline services. These organisations are not auxiliary institutions. They are integral to the national response, providing counselling, psychosocial support, referrals, advocacy, victim assistance and community-based awareness programmes. In many instances, they are the first point of contact for survivors seeking assistance, particularly in communities where access to formal support services remains limited.
Yet, these organisations continue to operate under severe financial and institutional constraints, often without adequate operational funding, dedicated administrative personnel or the resources required to meet increasingly complex service delivery demands. Funding instability, short-term project allocations and complex compliance requirements further undermine their institutional sustainability. Government cannot continue to rely on civil society organisations to fill critical gaps in service delivery while failing to adequately resource the work they undertake.
When an NPO loses its capacity to operate, it is not simply an organisation that disappears. It is a community that loses access to essential services, a survivor who loses a support structure and vulnerable individuals who are left with fewer avenues through which to seek assistance. The weakening of these organisations has direct consequences for prevention, early intervention and survivor support.
We therefore call on government to move beyond short-term project funding and adopt a developmental, partnership-based approach to supporting civil society. This must include predictable multi-year funding, targeted operational support, institutional capacity building, accessible compliance assistance and adequate resources for organisations providing frontline services. Funding must also extend to awareness and prevention initiatives, rather than concentrating predominantly on responses after violence has occurred. The survival and institutional resilience of community-based organisations must be recognised as an essential component of the national response to GBVF.
Furthermore, the additional R157.4 million allocated to the Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities towards improving national coordination and oversight must translate into stronger accountability across government departments and more effective collaboration with civil society. The full implementation of the National Strategic Plan on GBVF requires clearly defined responsibilities, adequate resources, measurable targets and accountability mechanisms. Similarly, expanding sexual offences courts from 55 to 101 and Thuthuzela Care Centres from 72 to 80 by 2028/29 must be accompanied by effective investigations, improved prosecution outcomes and survivor-centred services. Access to justice cannot be measured by the existence of specialised facilities alone, but by whether survivors receive timely support and perpetrators are held accountable.
The economic and social costs of GBVF are too significant for prevention to remain underfunded. Conservative estimates place the annual economic cost of GBV in South Africa between R28.4 billion and R42.2 billion. These costs extend beyond direct expenditure on healthcare, policing and justice. They include lost productivity, disrupted livelihoods, economic insecurity among survivors and the broader consequences for families and communities. Investment in prevention, early intervention and survivor support must therefore be understood as an essential investment in the country's long-term social and economic development.
Ultimately, the effectiveness of the announced allocations must be measured by more than the number of social workers recruited, courts established or facilities expanded. It must be measured by whether perpetrators are held accountable, whether survivors receive appropriate and timely support, whether communities have access to effective prevention programmes and whether women and children are safer.
GBVF is not a seasonal issue requiring attention only during particular campaigns or commemorative periods. It is a daily reality that demands a sustained, 365-day response. Government must move beyond budgetary announcements and demonstrate meaningful implementation, institutional accountability and investment in the organisations and communities at the forefront of this work. We cannot continue to make policy commitments without addressing the systemic failures that prevent those commitments from changing the lived realities of women and children.
For media enquiries:
Siyabulela Monakali
Communications Manager, Ilitha Labantu
021 633 2383
[email protected]
Will R4bn reach survivors, or repeat the implementation failures?
