Mobilisation for the march to the Union buildings in August 2018 brought together organisations working on gender-based violence from across the country. Womxn and gender diverse people, civil society organisations, community based organisations, and businesses were galvanised to get behind a movement that dared to imagine a South Africa free from gender-based violence. 

Womxn and gender diverse people in their numbers supported the call by #TotalShutdown because we believed in the common cause and wanted to be part of a solution for dealing with GBV from all sectors of our society. Those who offer victim support services brought their perspective, legal organisations brought their expertise, and survivors lent their voices to the call for the #24demands. These demands were the result of a wide consultation process that was anchored by various groupings that have contributed to ending gender-based violence against womxn for many years.

We expanded on the #24demands and articulated a road map for the development of a National Strategic Plan for GBV, the setting up of a council and the setting up of a fund to resource the response. We remained seized with the agenda that took us to the streets. Our grouping, The Call to Action, a civil society organisation (CSO) collective, comprises approximately 70+ organisations including labour, and advocacy groups. We worked throughout the months following the 2018 march to consult, mobilise, and build consensus towards the Presidential Summit on Gender Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF), which took place in November 2018. During the summit, a number of members of the CSO collective volunteered to represent the group in the discussions with the government. These representatives were then elected to continue to represent the collective on the Interim Steering Committee (ISC). It is to this collective that some of the CSO representatives in the ISC reported following meetings of the ISC. 

In 2019, it was our movement, which challenged the private sector to take responsibility and #FundTheFight to end GBV. We mobilised for the #SandtonShutDown and we were there at 3am to make a case that corporate South Africa could no longer turn a blind eye to rape and murder. We followed up and began the process of negotiating with representatives of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange to begin a conversation about the collection of a levy (of 2% of all profits of all listed entities) to fund the fight against GBV and femicide. We are relentless in imagining ways to end the scourge.

The 2018 march, and the resultant summit, were important political moments that made it possible to believe that together we could be a solution. We so badly wanted to work together and knew that it was not going to be easy, but we committed ourselves to moving forward with trust, love and respect. We also knew that the process was going to be slow, messy and complex because we understand what it takes to co-create feminist realities.

In South Africa, civil society is not exempt from the problems with which the rest of the sectors in the country continue to struggle. It would have been naïve not to pay attention to the intersections of race, class and gender. We knew that in order to heal from the trauma of gender-based violence we needed to build a movement that sees and values all of its members.

As we look for ways to better organise ourselves, we have been able to create a space that allows members to talk about their work, seek support, collaborate on projects, and engage on policy development as well as provide regular updates on various GBV related developments.

We may not have moved as fast as others expected us to, but we understood that we needed to carry each other. As a sector, we are acutely aware of our own limitations but also believe that we are amply compensated by our desire and willingness to learn and grow together. We are investing in strengthening our individual and institutional capacities.

We have however always been clear about what our activism is not; the lone-ranger type, which centres on certain types of knowledge and marginalises alternative perspectives, which sees black womxn as subjects of research but never knowledge producers and is eager to make our internal disagreements national news. An unhealthy investment in our squabbles produces a public narrative of chaos and dysfunction, drowns out our work and keeps us from winning this fight.

Accountability and lack of access to publicly available information concern us. We were privy to the developments because some of our representatives, who understand accountability and the meaning of being civil society representatives, respected us enough to come back and engage with us. Those who felt that they did not owe anyone accountability did not do so. We are over that. Access to information should never be left to individuals to communicate with their constituencies.

The work of the Interim Steering Committee is a public process and there is no reason why the information is not publicly available. The Government Communication Information Service (GCIS) was tasked with public communication following the meetings of the ISC; to date there are only four statements that have been issued. This needs to change. Media reports indicate that the Commission on Gender Equality struggled to get information. If these reports are true, it is lamentable that a Chapter Nine institution which was set up to support constitutional democracy and has a unique mandate to protect womxn’s rights has been denied access to information. This experience speaks to a need for better partnerships between all of us. The commission is a member of our collective and it would have been useful to know that the ISC was obstructive to a constitutionally mandated body.

We understand that the ISC engaged the South African Business Coalition on Health and Aids (SABCOHA), an organisation whose stated mandate is to advocate for health in the workplace. The organisation acts as a caretaker of funding for GBV and femicide as a temporary measure and we are assured that this was the full scope of the engagement. We however have ideas about the kind of the fund we want, including the kind of administration that is required to fund GBV work.

We understand what is at stake. This fight will require the collective effort of every one of us with our varied skill sets. We need to see all these processes through, we are invested in them and that is why we imagined them into existence. Sithule nje siyabona. We are engaged in discussions about the development of the GBV fund that is feminist, collaborative and participatory.

A fund, which will be responsive to the needs of civil society organisations, is what we need, particularly those who most need the funds and often struggle to access big grants. We are currently contemplating the process to establish a GBV council, in order to continue the work of the ISC. We have learned from our past mistake of electing unaccountable charlatans to represent our movement, and now will not repeat it. We will vet our representatives in the GBV council. The workings of the inter-ministerial committee that will be led by the department of womxn is also something that we are following closely.

The ISC was given a mandate to finalise the National Strategic Plan; that process has been concluded. There are two big processes that are outstanding, the setting up of the GBV fund and the establishment of the council. As their mandate ends, it is important that they show leadership by leaving the office with concrete transitional plans on how these two processes will unfold.

We are aware that a lot of work has happened and it will be a pity to have it go to waste. To the extent that there is a trust deficit that has been created, we believe that the provision of regular information to enable everyone to follow the process will be a great start. If GCIS is not able to fulfil this role, there are plenty of civil society organisations that can play a communication role. Doing this work without a plan to communicate progress to those who are waiting for things to change is negligent. It leaves room for all manner of conspiracy theories. We understand that it often takes time to build systems. DM

Ndashe is the founder of the Initiative for Strategic Litigation in Africa and feminist lawyer. Mpulo is the head of communications at SECTION27.