Premier’s weekly digicon turns its attention to GBV

Media Release: Premier’s weekly digicon turns its attention to GBV

Premier Alan Winde’s regular digicon this week looked at an issue equally as serious as the energy crisis: gender-based violence (GBV).

To mark the 16 Days of Activism Against GBV campaign, the digicon focused on a range of aspects, including the support offered by the Western Cape Government (WCG), civil society organisations, and other role players and what more needs to be done to prevent violence against women and children.

The Premier’s guests were Western Cape Minister of Social Development, Sharna Fernandez, Ms Gaynor Diedericks, Manager of the NGO Glen Elgin Community Organisation (GECO), and Mr Mzukisi Gaba, Director: Restorative Services at the provincial Social Development Department.

“I see the 16 Days of Activism initiative as a period of reflection and stock-taking, where we take a closer look at how we are faring in all our collective efforts to make our communities safer, to keep vulnerable citizens safe, and to offer them hope. We are fixated on addressing this issue 365 days a year,” remarked Premier Winde.

Minister Fernandez added, “A lot of this violence can be prevented if we think differently about ourselves as women and men. For too long we believed it is just women and children who are affected, but men too experience violence. We must not discount boys, men and the LGBTQIA+ community. With resources, unfortunately, shrinking due to the national fiscal crisis, we are encouraging a whole-of-society approach where we are asking all citizens to join us as the WCG to assist us in tackling all forms of GBV.”

Ms Diedericks reflected that GECO was established in 2004 and works primarily in rural areas in Grabouw. Describing GBV as a “pandemic”, she said, “There is no difference between the prevalence of GBV in rural and urban areas.” She outlined the four programmes GECO runs:

• Family and children programme;
• Elderly programme;
• Victim empowerment programme; and
• After-school programme

“Through these initiatives, we are fostering a culture of respect in our communities,” said Ms Diedericks. But the good work that organisations like GECO do is not without its challenges. She explained that often their social workers have to travel long distances to expand their services and funding is inadequate. She added, “What hampers our services is that we do not have immediate emergency care when it comes to sheltering survivors.”

Minister Fernandez detailed how her department’s 26 GBV safe houses across the Western Cape have been a huge success in offering survivors places where they can access counselling and other forms of support. “But our footprint is not vast enough,” she said, adding, “We must collaborate with community members who can provide a safe space to survivors for an evening or two. We are busy exploring this approach in Delft.”

The digicon capped off a week in which the Premier assisted in launching two crucial projects:

• The Area-Based Team (ABT) in Delft, which is a key component of the Western Cape Safety Plan. An ABT is a grouping of government and non-government stakeholders in a defined geographic area that come together to share experiential knowledge and data to jointly address prioritised drivers of crime and violence. The ABT approach is integral to the Violence Prevention Unit (VPU), managed by the provincial Department of Health and Wellness, which leverages data and evidence from healthcare facilities to make better use of resources. Responding to the scourge of GBV is part of the work of these ABTs.\
• The Premier and Minister Fernandez started distributing load shedding relief packs at facilities funded by the Western Cape Department of Social Development. The packs are solar home lighting systems that also have charging capabilities. This initiative is part of the Western Cape Resilience Programme which includes offering tangible relief during power cuts to the most vulnerable in our society, such as survivors of GBV. The rollout of these relief packs will continue this month and into the new year addressing the needs of various groups.

To watch a recording of the digicon visit:

https://www.youtube.com/live/JYTKKKZ2Iko?feature=shared