The national campaign calling for Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF) to be declared a national disaster reached a breakthrough. At the G20 Social Summit on 20 November, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that the government will officially classify GBVF as a national disaster, a long-awaited acknowledgement of the scale of violence faced by women and children in South Africa.
This breakthrough follows an 18-month campaign led by Women for Change, a non-profit organisation that advocates for the constitutional rights of women and children in South Africa. Working alongside activists, civil society groups, community leaders, and survivor-led movements, Women for Change launched the campaign in 2024 with a clear demand: that GBVF be recognised and treated as a national emergency under the Disaster Management Act.
The campaign is also part of the planned G20 Women’s Shutdown on 21 November. The shutdown is a coordinated national action highlighting South Africa’s femicide crisis.
“This is not a march or a protest in the traditional sense. It is a coordinated economic shutdown, designed to make visible the true value of women to the country while highlighting the state’s failure to protect them”, says Merlize Jogiat, Operations & Advocacy Coordinator at Women For Change.
South Africa faces a deepening gender-based violence and femicide crisis. A 2024 South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) research brief tracking femicide over 20 years, showed that in 2020/21, three women were killed per day by an intimate partner in South Africa and IPV femicide made up 60% of all femicides.
The date was chosen to coincide with world leaders gathering in South Africa for the G20 Summit. “If the world can gather for the economy, it must also gather for the lives of women,” says Jogiat.
The petition calling for GBVF to be declared a National Disaster was first launched in April 2024. It gathered over one million signatures from supporters across South Africa and around the world.
We [Women For Change] were assured that this declaration will be signed tomorrow [21 November], and we will convene again next week for a follow-up meeting to discuss the detailed action plan and timeline”, a statement released by Women For Change reads.
From 2020-2024 theNetworking HIV and AIDS Community of Southern Africa (NACOSA) provided support to 102 378 women who had experienced violence. 61% were subjected to sexual violence and 39% to physical or emotional violence.
These figures highlight the scale of nature of gender-based violence in South Africa and the urgent need for effective prevention and support systems.
While this announcement marks a significant victory, Women for Change stresses that the work is far from over.
“Our campaign will continue long after 21 November, through aggressive policy pressure and parliamentary engagement, expanded national victim-support infrastructure, international advocacy, and further mass-mobilisation. This is not a symbolic action, it is a step in a sustained national struggle for safety, justice, and structural change,” says Jogiat.
According to Jogiat, South Africa has declared non-environmental emergencies before when they posed systemic risks to the population, such as COVID-19 and the national energy crisis. “The femicide epidemic is no different, it is widespread, deadly, and requires extraordinary coordination and emergency funding”.
What happens when a national disaster is declared
According to the Disaster Management Act, when South Africa declares a National Disaster, the government is expected to respond in a fast, coordinated and structured way.
The National Disaster Management Centre takes the lead and brings all relevant departments together to create a national action plan. This plan must spell out what will be done, who is responsible, and the timelines. A declaration also makes it possible to release emergency funding from the national budget, and provinces or municipalities can receive additional support if they cannot manage the situation on their own.
The government must then report on progress, communicate clearly with the public, and involve civil society, NGOs and community organisations in the response.
The Disaster Management Act also requires ongoing monitoring, meaning the national plan can be adjusted as needed. A National Disaster declaration creates a legal obligation for the government to act urgently, coordinate across departments, fund the response properly, and ensure accountability.
In a statement released on 20 November, The Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities (DWYPD) announced their full support of the Presidential declaration of Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF) as a national crisis.
But it says government alone cannot end GBVF. “It demands a united front, where communities, men, and institutions actively challenge harmful norms, protect survivors, and uphold justice,” says Minister Sindisiwe Chikunga.
For the upcoming 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children, the department will run a campaign called “LETSEMA”, calling on men, women, boys, girls, and media to work together to stop GBVF.
The campaign will bring together filmmakers, journalists, civil society groups, researchers, and other partners to create a shared plan to prevent GBV, using responsible storytelling and inclusive media coverage.
For Women for Change and its partners, this moment is a breakthrough but not the end. It is the beginning of a long-term fight for safety, justice, and real structural change in South Africa. – Health-e News
