#WOMANFORCHANGE
The #WomenForChange movement is calling for nationwide shutdown planned for the 21st of November, to demand that gender-based violence be declared a national disaster.
This country is long overdue for something that forces everyone to stop pretending gender-based violence is just another unfortunate part of life in South Africa. It’s not an “issue.” It’s not a “conversation.” It’s a crisis, and people are finally pushing for it to be recognized as a national disaster, the way it actually feels in real life: unpredictable, destructive, devastating, and impossible to escape.
And the sad truth that we may have to face is this movement may just all go in vain because of the governments continuous refusal to make change where it matters most. And that is because beneath their refusal lies something far more structural, far more political, and far more threatening to the people who benefit from the current system. And that’s exactly why government resists.
If the government where to acknowledge GBV as a national disaster and a set in place measures to prevent and take action against the perpetrators, they would have to do the same to their fellow political members.
Let me say it again…if the government where to acknowledge the severity of GBV in South Africa and put measures in place to correct it, they will be forced to acknowledge how many people in positions of power such as, ministers, police officers, judges, senior and junior government officials are predators themselves. They would have to explain how they were getting away with and be held accountable, which they do not want. Because you cannot declare a disaster without admitting where it comes from, who is enabling it, and who benefits from keeping things exactly the way they are.
And that is a truth the state cannot risk confronting.
- Because doing so would mean:
- Investigating their own officials
- Exposing long-hidden abuses in state institutions
- Opening corruption networks to scrutiny
- Admitting that protection of violent men is happening within the system itself
And that’s only the tip of the iceberg. Because it is not only their fellow cabinet members they are trying to protect but also the silent beneficiaries and investors from the private sector.
We cannot pretend that corruption in South Africa exists only in government. It doesn’t.
Corruption is a partnership:
Private power funds state power, and state power protects private interests.
Why?
Because the same businessmen bribing officials…the ones who fund political campaigns, bankroll luxury lifestyles, and move money through backdoor channels…are often the same men who abuse, exploit, traffic, or violate women and children.
If GBV is declared a national disaster, governments will be forced to trace the money. They will be forced to investigate the very networks that protect some of the worst offenders. That threatens their power structure. Silence and inaction cost less than accountability…and that is why things stay messed up.
The Governments Silence is profitable whereas their Acknowledgment of GBV is expensive.
That brings me to the Disaster Management Act 57 of 2002. According to the Act, a “disaster” is:
“a progressive or sudden, widespread or localised, natural or human-caused occurrence which … causes or threatens to cause … (i) death, injury or disease; (ii) damage to property, infrastructure or the environment; or (iii) significant disruption of the life of a community; … and is of a magnitude that exceeds the ability of those affected … to cope with its effects using only their own resources.”
GBV in South Africa meets that definition in more than one way. It is human-caused, widespread, and deeply disruptive. More than that, its scale overwhelms communities, social services, and state systems, often leaving survivors with fewer resources than they need. It’s a public catastrophe, and part of the catastrophe is the fact that the state is structurally reluctant to treat it like one.
Look at the numbers:
- According to the first national GBV study by the HSRC (2022), 33.1% of adult women (18 and older) have experienced physical violence in their lifetime.
- In that same study, 7.9% reported lifetime non-partner sexual violence, and 5.9% of women reported recent (past 12 months) non-partner sexual violence.
- Over 7.3 million women in South Africa have experienced physical violence (according to the HSRC), which equals a large share of the adult female population.
- Between July and September 2024, there were 10,191 reported rapes, 957 women murdered, and 1,567 women survived attempted murders. To put in into perspective this were the numbers for 3 MONTHS! Imagine what they looked like by the end of the year
These are not small numbers. These are not isolated incidents. This is national scale.
Declaring GBV a national disaster would force a collective, institutional response. It would demand resources, transparency, and accountability — not just response but prevention. It would mean sustained investment in community-based programs, law enforcement reform, and systemic change.
If not, we keep repeating the same painful pattern: victims become statistics, predators stay powerful, and money stays hidden in shadow networks that ignore or enable violence. For a government deeply enmeshed in private-sector corruption, admitting GBV is a disaster is admitting part of the funding structure might be complicit.
So when I support WomenForChange, it’s not just because they are calling out a moral issue. They are calling out a structural issue. GBV is not just social decay…it is a political, economic, and legal crisis. Declaring it a national disaster doesn’t just give it recognition. It demands action…real, systemic, unflinching action.
Despite the odds being against us and the strong holds we are going up against. We should not give up, the road ahead my be long but we should stay strong and continue to fight the good fight to bring justice and change
#WOMANFORCHANGE