Premier

1. The Departments of Social Development and Community Safety both have programmes in place to prevent and fight against gender-based violence and femicide in the province.

According to the Department of Social Development (DSD), the Victim Empowerment Programme funds GBV educational workshops and awareness raising activities in high risk areas. Other DSD programmes always contribute to the prevention of GBV that includes:

• Services to Families Programme – Positive parenting programmes and family preservation interventions;
• Child Care and Protection Programme – Support awareness campaigns to prevent child abuse and targeting community members, families and children with risky behaviours, Prevention and information programmes focussing on child sexual abuse afforded to school children, parents and the community;
• Older Persons Programme - Elder abuse awareness; to community; to service centres, funded and unfunded organisations; and
• Crime Prevention and Support – Prevention programmes with high risk and school children.

The Department of Community Safety has prioritised the following interventions in aid to fight against Gender-Based Violence (GBV) and femicide:

• Collaborating with the SAPS to identify systemic issues at a station level, and to use data and evidence to ensure interventions yield the required outcomes.
• Information sharing and sharing of experiences (to inform victims of GBV of their rights and where to access assistance) through the Celebration of Women’s Month and the 16 Days of Activism for No Violence against Women and Children Campaign.
• Pamphlets will be distributed at the 16 Days of Activism for No Violence against Women and Children Campaign where discussion groups and workshops will be held to raise awareness around GBV and empower local communities with information to report and address GBV.
• Investigate service delivery complaints against the SAPS, in respect of GBV via the Western Cape Police Ombudsman (WCPO). Victims and Survivors of GBV may lodge service delivery complaints with the WCPO if they are dissatisfied with the service they received from the SAPS.
• Monitoring SAPS compliance to the Domestic Violence Act (DVA), with an emphasis on focusing on cases withdrawn in 2018/19 and making proposals for the re-enrolment of such cases.
• Established a dedicated email address i.e. Monitor.GBV@westerncape.gov.za
• High profile GBV and domestic violence cases may also be referred by the Department’s Minister or HoD and are placed on an active list so that the matters are not struck off the court rolls.
• The Court Watching Brief Unit will be conducting station visits to the 5 priority stations where Area Based Teams (ABT’s) are established to determine reasons why matters are being struck off the roll through insight into the court dockets. The DV monitoring team will place a specific emphasis on the 11 priority stations accounting for 40% of murders within the Western Cape.
  • The Department of Community Safety, via the Chief Directorate Civilian Secretariat of Safety and Security, is responsible for chairing the DVA Compliance Forum on provincial level. This forum is charged with the responsibility to enhance SAPS compliance with the Domestic Violence Act and SAPS National Instruction 7/1999. In dealing with the reality of GBVF, a booklet was produced in order to inform victims and other stakeholders of the rights of victims and possible avenues to access government assistance.   Furthermore, work is done to conceptualize a process that will result in SAPS nominating champions, per cluster, in the fight against GBVF. These champions will represent SAPS, as a crucial frontline, in the fight against GBVF. Nominations will then be considered in identifying the “SAPS GBVF champion of the month”.    
• Regular Community Police Forum observation visits to SAPS Victim Support Rooms will ensure that police stations make provision and have suitable space to support victims of crime and violence and enhance capacity of local safety partners to assist SAPS with observation of the operationalisation of Victim Support Rooms.

2. The Victim Empowerment Programme (VEP) within the Department of Social Development fund social workers, social auxiliary workers and allow counsellors to render the following service:

• GBV Educational Workshops and awareness sessions in high risk communities targeting men, youth and women where focus is on identifying cycle of violence, forms of domestic violence, patriarchy and promoting positive masculinity;
• Court support services to assist survivors of domestic violence to apply for protection orders and containment;
• Therapeutic services and trauma support services for survivors of GBV and their children and/or significant others;
• Trauma containment at the 7 Thuthuzela Care Centres in the Province to victims of GBV, as well as follow up support services;
• Funding of shelters services, which includes social work therapeutic services to women and children, outreach services and after care. We are currently in the process of opening six new shelters; and
• Provision of skills development for women in shelters to assist them in accessing economic opportunities

As part of awareness campaigns to educate and end gender-based violence, funds are allocated and utilised towards marketing, promotional items, catering and contractors.

The budget allocated to addressing and preventing GBV in the province is as follows