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GBVF costs South Africa up to R42.4bn a year amid funding concerns
It is a number so large it almost loses meaning. Between R28.4 billion and R42.4 billion every single year. That is what gender-based violence and femicide are costing South Africa, according to figures presented to Members of Parliament this week.
Behind that price tag is something far heavier than money. It is lives lost, families broken, and communities living in fear.
A national disaster with a national price
In December last year, President Cyril Ramaphosa declared gender-based violence and femicide a national disaster. The move was widely welcomed by activists and civil society organisations who have long argued that the crisis demands emergency-level intervention.
This week, ministers briefed a joint sitting of parliamentary portfolio committees on what that declaration means in practice. Velenkosini Hlabisa, Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, and Sindisiwe Chikunga, Minister of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, laid out the scale of the challenge.
The economic cost alone is staggering. The R28.4 billion to R42.4 billion annual estimate represents between 0.9 percent and 1.3 percent of South Africa’s GDP. To put that into perspective, MPs heard that this amount could fund around 200,000 primary school teachers or provide National Health Insurance coverage to a quarter of the population.
It is not just a social crisis. It is a financial one that drains public resources and holds back development.
The human toll behind the numbers
Statistics shared during the briefing paint a bleak picture.
South Africa’s femicide rate stands at 9 per 100,000 women. That is five times higher than the global average and places the country among the worst in the world.
In the 2019 to 2020 financial year, 2,695 women were murdered. That works out to roughly one woman killed every three hours. More recently, between July and September 2024, 957 women were murdered, while 1,567 survived attempted murder.
Sexual offences remain alarmingly high. Between April 2022 and March 2023, 53,498 sexual offences were reported. Of these, 42,780 were cases of rape. That averages 117 rapes every single day.
For many South Africans, these figures are no longer shocking. They are grimly familiar. Social media regularly erupts with anger and grief after yet another name trends, another vigil is held, and another family buries a daughter.
Funding fears and unanswered questions
Despite the national disaster declaration, MPs raised serious concerns about whether there is enough money to fight the crisis properly.
Liezl van der Merwe, Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, warned that the declaration means little without proper funding.
She highlighted that at least 30 percent of women with disabilities have experienced sexual or physical violence. Older women are also particularly vulnerable.
Civil society organisations and nonprofits, often the first line of support for survivors, are already underfunded. Thousands of trained social workers, estimated between 6,000 and 8,000, are reportedly sitting at home because there is no budget to absorb them into the system.
Chikunga acknowledged the difficulty. Her department, she said, has a limited budget of its own, making it hard to reprioritise funds even under a disaster classification. She confirmed that the department has written to Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana to address both the classification and the resources required to coordinate the national response.
The Intergovernmental Committee on Disaster Management is expected to reconvene in March to assess how departments have adjusted their budgets and what additional resources may be made available.
Expanding support services
There has been some progress on survivor support.
South Africa currently has 66 Thuthuzela Care Centres, with plans to increase that number to 68 by the end of the financial year. These centres form a key part of the country’s anti-rape strategy, aiming to reduce secondary victimisation and strengthen cases for prosecution.
Chikunga said partnerships with the private sector, including the mining council, are being explored to upgrade existing centres and potentially build new ones, especially in hotspot areas.
Yet even this progress carries a painful irony. As Chikunga pointed out, the more centres that are built, the more it reflects the scale of violence that still exists.
More than a policy issue
In townships, suburbs, and rural villages alike, the effects of GBVF are visible. Community marches, awareness campaigns, and candlelight vigils have become part of South Africa’s public life.
The declaration of a national disaster sends a strong symbolic message. But the coming months will test whether symbolism is matched by resources, coordination, and political will.
As Parliament prepares for follow-up meetings and a report to Cabinet, the central question remains simple and urgent. Can South Africa afford not to invest fully in ending this crisis?
The numbers suggest it cannot.
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Source: IOL
Featured Image: YouTube/Nelson Mandela University Transformation Office
