West Coast GBVF Summit

The West Coast District Municipality hosted a successful summit on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF) in Moorreesburg on 01 August 2023.

250 stakeholders from local, provincial, and national governments, along with the NGO sector, attended the event at the Moorreesburg Town Hall.

Attendees explored solutions to addressing the scourge of GBVF in communities in the West Coast District Municipality, seeking to localize strategies from the National Strategic Plan on GBVF and the Western Cape Government GBV Implementation Plan.

Western Cape Minister of Social Development Sharna Fernandez told attendees about the provincial GBV Implementation Plan and the key interventions borne from it. This includes the establishment of a GBV transversal task team that meets every month, and an increased roll-out of GBV services and interventions on the ground.

“National and provincial governments can dream up the best plans, but without municipal- or community buy-in, these will come to naught. My hope for today’s summit was for different role-players to collaborate to find sustainable solutions to the scourge of violence plaguing women, children, members of the LGBTQIA+ community, and men who are abused by their partners. This was indeed achieved: strategies unique to the people and the resources available in the West Coast District Municipality were found. I am eager to see these plans implemented,” says Provincial Minister of Social Development Sharna Fernandez.

The West Coast District is home to Swartland Municipality, the first municipality to implement a GBV Ambassadors Programme in the province. This programme is a shining example of a whole-of-society and whole-of-government approach as the provincial Department of Social Development provided training to volunteers. These volunteers provide information about victim support programmes and services available for the intervention and prevention of GBV to residents in Swartland.

West Coast District deputy mayor Sandra Crafford says: “We also took the lead and became the first municipality to develop a gender-based violence referral pathway. It focuses on the steps to follow if you are being abused. We are in the process of also creating a digitized version of this booklet, which will be distributed in all public spaces. Partnerships are so important in improving safety. Financial contributions by the Western Cape Government made it possible for the West Coast District Municipality to install radio infrastructure in several police stations to improve communications.”

The provincial Department of Economic Development and Tourism and the West Coast District also handed over donations of blankets and other essential items to Siyabonga Care Village. These items will be distributed to the three shelters for abused women which Siyabonga Care Village oversees.

Inputs from today’s summit will be condensed into a GBV Action Plan for the West Coast region, which will form part of the district’s overarching Community Safety Plan.

For anyone in need of assistance, like counselling, services can be accessed by visiting your nearest DSD office, or by contacting one of our funded NPO partners. Services can also be accessed by calling the Gender-Based Violence Command Centre on 0800 428 428. More information about services can be found on helpformen.co.za.