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Stuff from Johannesburg

Government departments urged to use budget for GBVF accurately

While acknowledging that the budget for government’s gender responsive programme will not be adequate, government departments have been urged to use the budget allocated for the programme properly.

“If the programme is budgeted for, we need to ensure that it is really being used for [its intended use]. We need to… analyse whether the departments are spending the allocated funds on that programme,” said National Treasury Director-General, Ishmail Momoniat.

Momoniat was speaking on the last day of the second Presidentail Summit on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF) held in Midrand on Wednesday.

He acknowledged that given the scale of GBVF, whatever government is spending, it will “not be enough”.

“The actual spending is the exercise we have to monitor on a daily basis. We need to do more to address the scourge of GBVF, as the increasing numbers of cases show that we are not doing enough,” he said.

GBVF a humanity problem

Meanwhile, Public Service and Administration Deputy Minister, Chana Pilane-Majake, said GBVF is a humanity problem that needs a collective solution.

“What is important is realising that the answers are not going to come from just one institution, but all institutions, working in unison to try eradicate this mammoth problem that is eating up the lives of women, including children,” Pilane-Majake said.

Highlighting what the faith sector is doing to implement the National Strategic Plan (NSP) on GBVF, Daniela Gennrich, said since 2020, the faith sector has organised a group of activists who came together and began to analyse the issues and developed a programme, which specifically responds to the different pillars of NSP.

“Since then, we… now have over 600 between ourselves and our coalition partners. We say we are people of faith, who speak out, stand up, collaborate, share knowledge and disrupt norms, and decisively with survivours at the centre to end gender-based violence and femicide.”

Explaining where they mostly find resistance when dealing with issues of GBVF, she said there are often “boy clubs” that are very difficult to penetrate. – SAnews.gov.za

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The Socio-Political Crucible of Soweto

You cannot understand Johannesburg without understanding Soweto (an acronym for South Western Townships). Originally established as a “labor dormitory” to house black miners away from the white city center, Soweto grew into a sprawling metropolis of over 1.3 million people and became the epicenter of the struggle against Apartheid.

The township is home to Vilakazi Street, the only street in the world to have been home to two Nobel Peace Prize winners: Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. It was also the site of the 1976 Soweto Uprising, when thousands of students protested against the forced use of Afrikaans in schools. The police response and the subsequent death of 13-year-old Hector Pieterson catalyzed international condemnation of the Apartheid regime. Today, Soweto is a vibrant cultural hub, blending historical landmarks like the Orlando Towers (now used for bungee jumping) with a booming tourism industry and a sophisticated middle class. It represents the city’s resilience—a place born from segregation that transformed into a symbol of liberation and modern South African identity.