Government departments were not working hand in hand with communities to address gender-based violence (GBV).
This was said recently at a public consultation convened by the City of Joburg in Cosmo City on the unrelenting scourge and also as part of its safer city mandate engagements.
The City’s Department of Social Development is hosting citywide engagements on this concern. In a statement, the City said, “The City is committed to playing a role in addressing GBV in disadvantaged communities and is engaging with the community at a grassroots level to understand the causes of GBV and consult them on the solutions and strategies.”
The engagements involving women and men forums, non-governmental organisations, faith-based organisations and government departments allow participants to identify what works and what does not. At one such occasion in Cosmo City, participants attributed the scourge to the lack of cooperation and consultation between government departments and communities. There was an urge for civil society and government to adopt an integrated approach to help reduce it significantly. There was also a general suggestion for the City to increase awareness on the scourge through door to door campaigns.
In the engagement, the department’s Director of Women and Elderly Unit, Thabo Mashego encouraged communities to influence government policy on issues that affected them. He urged them to attend the Gender-Based Violence Response Plan which was to be launched later by the MEC of the Department of Community Safety. The plan he said, would give effect to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Emergency Response Action Plan on GBV and femicide.
Details: mediaqueries@joburg.org.za
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