Media Statement

11 February 2021

Exclusion of GBV and femicide crisis as priorities in SONA disappointing

NGO demands transparency on GBV resources and prioritisation of GBV in Budget speech

Cape Town, 11 February 2021 — MOSAIC Training, Service & Healing Centre says the exclusion of Gender-Based Violence (GBV) and femicide from the four priorities outlined in this year's State of The Nation Address (SONA) is disheartening.

"The President uses SONA to set out his government's priorities for the coming year and to highlight the achievements and challenges of the previous year. Excluding GBV and femicide from the priorities in this speech implies that the lives of millions of women are also not high enough on the national priority list," says Mchuchu- Macmillan,' says Advocate Tarisai Mchuchu-Macmillan, Executive Director of MOSAIC, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) dedicated to fighting GBV.

The list of priorities outlined in the speech includes defeating the corona virus pandemic, accelerating economic recovery, implementing economic reforms to create sustainable jobs, and fighting corruption and strengthening the weakened state.

 The NGO says the harrowingly high number of media reports on female homicide last year gave the country moment for pause. They showed that the pandemic of GBV and femicide were showing no signs of abating, even as we were in the grip of a global health pandemic. "South Africa's femicide rates are five times the global average, and every eight hours, a woman dies because of intimate partner abuse.  It is disconcerting that President Cyril Ramaphosa did not use one of the most important days on the annual political calendar to reiterate the urgency required to eradicate GBV and femicide, says Mchuchu-Macmillan.

President Ramaphosa's speech mentions ending GBV further down in his address.  "Sadly, GBV and femicide were but a footnote. We were hoping for a detailed action plan that goes beyond pledges and rhetoric to decisively and urgently tackle this pandemic of violence," says Mchuchu-Macmillan.

More accountability needed on GBVF structures and mechanisms

 The President mentioned the Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF) Response Fund, launched last Thursday.

This private-sector fund aims to provide financial infrastructure support to those implementing the NSP on GBVF in South Africa. It is also meant to aid accountability and better governance for private sector funds, and create much needed operational and strategic cohesion between donors and government.

"We don't have clarity on which bodies will facilitate this work, but we are concerned about repeating past mistakes by setting up additional structures with little monitoring, oversight and accountability for meaningful outcomes. We need to ensure that organisations that have developed the best community-based solutions and interventions will get the financial resources to prevent and respond to domestic violence and GBV."

In March last year, a month after SONA 2020, Cabinet approved the GBVF-NSP and the establishment of the National Council on GBVF (NCGBVF) which would be responsible for implementing the GBVF-NSP. The structure of this council remains unclear. The President also did not share the progress reports made to his office about implementing targets set out in the NSP by bodies such as the Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities.

The community-based NGO says that, while it welcomes the R12 billion pledged by the President over the next three years to implement National Strategic Plan's various components, there is still no transparent process or decisive next steps for the coordinating structure. "There has been a lack of transparency on the governing structures that are supposed to drive the NSP GBVF agenda and little to no consultation with the civil society sector which has been at the forefront of delivering GBV services for years. There is still no clarity on whether the National Council on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide has been set up yet or what the process for setting it up will entail.  If we are to have real successes in fighting GBV, we need to ensure that we centre transparency and accountability."

Demand GBV to be prioritised in the upcoming Budget speech

 Despite being focused on the economy, MOSAIC says the speech failed to link urgent economic empowerment and GBV. "Less than two months ago, the government's theme for 16 Days of Activism for no violence against women and children campaign highlighted the importance of women's economic empowerment as an integral component to eradicate GBV and femicide. However, the speech did not mention women and GBV specifically in its post-COVID economic recovery measures," says Mchuchu- Macmillan.

 The NGO says it witnessed how COVID – and its resulting economic consequences – placed an increased financial strain on families, and how this, in turn, led to increased violence against women and children in many homes.

"There is still a chance to re-set priorities by ensuring that GBV is included at the top of the priority list, by Minister Tito Mboweni in the budget speech week, even as the country grapples with COVID-19 and a beleaguered economy," says Mchuchu- Macmillan.

ENDS

For more information, inquiries or requests for interviews, please contact:

Neo Khumalo

Communications consultant

E: neo@mosaic.org.za

T: +27 067 640 6032 (WhatsApp Calls and messaging)/ +44 7823 819472

About MOSAIC

MOSAIC is a community-based non-governmental organisation (NGO) that works to prevent and reduce abuse and domestic violence. This is achieved by providing holistic, integrated services when incidents      occur, and supporting clients through the process of healing and rebuilding their lives after a traumatic event.

MOSAIC creates an enabling environment through our holistic and integrated five-pillar service model

• Access to justice – psychosocial and legal support provided by court support workers, and psychosocial support from MOSAIC's Sexual Violence Counsellors at Thuthuzela Care Centres
• Support and Healing – Counselling Services, Support Groups and Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights;
• Engaging Men and Boys- Training and Workshops, Support Groups and Counselling for Men
• Empower- Education and Skills Training, Rights Training, Youth GBV Life Skills and Community Dialogues
• Advocacy and Policy- Advancing rights of women and girls by providing evidence from our services to change the system.

The organisation was established in 1993 in response to high levels of violence against women in South Africa, particularly in the form of domestic violence, and in recognition of the silence that many women suffer in unnecessarily, due to either a lack of knowledge of their rights, a lack of confidence to access justice for themselves, or both. MOSAIC's registered head office is in Cape Town, South Africa.

For further information about MOSAIC, please visit www.mosaic.org.za