Activists say Women’s Month rings hollow as GBV crisis persists

As South Africa marks Women’s Month, activists say there is little to celebrate while women continue to face gender-based violence, femicide, poverty and insecurity, nearly nine months after gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF) was declared a National Disaster.

Activists reject celebratory tone

Community movement Abahlali baseMjondolo said impoverished women, particularly those living in shack settlements, continue to carry the burden of keeping families together while confronting inadequate housing, basic services and safety. The organisation said:

“This is not a month of celebration. No woman is truly free in South Africa. All women are at risk of violence. Impoverished women remain profoundly oppressed.”

Abahlali highlighted everyday risks for women in informal settlements, saying some are forced to walk to communal taps after dark and that “for millions of impoverished women in shacks, tin houses and backyards, every day is a fight for survival.”

Promises, urgency and unanswered questions

Sabrina Walter, founder of Women For Change, criticised the government’s response to GBVF, saying the urgency promised when the disaster was declared on 19 December 2025 had not produced meaningful action. She said:

“Nine months. Nine months since South African women were promised urgency. Nine months since families believed that perhaps, finally, women and children would matter.”

Walter told how her organisation had received no meaningful public update on what had been implemented since the declaration and noted that the only national acknowledgement she cited was a 27-second mention during the State of the Nation Address. She also said she attended a national GBV conference that was supposed to be opened by the Minister of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, but that “she never arrived.” Walter said:

“If the Minister responsible for leading the response to a National Disaster cannot even address those working on its frontlines, where are we as a country?”

Remembering women activists killed in struggle

Abahlali used Women’s Month to remember women activists who were killed while fighting for land, housing, justice and dignity. The movement named several women and the dates on which they were killed:

• Nqobile Nzuza killed by a police officer during a road blockade in Cato Crest on 30 September 2013.
• Thuli Ndlovu an Abahlali leader in KwaNdengezi, assassinated on 27 September 2014.
• Nokuthula Mabaso a leader of eKhenana Commune and the Abahlali Women’s League, assassinated on 5 May 2022.
• Fikile Ntshangase leading member of the Mfolozi Community Environmental Justice Organisation, assassinated on 22 October 2020.
• Babita Deokaran a Gauteng Department of Health whistleblower, assassinated in 2021.

Abahlali said:

“Thuli and Nokuthula were leaders. We also honour other women who have given their lives in the struggle for justice.”

The organisation urged that cases involving murdered women activists must not be forgotten or closed without accountability and said poor women were demanding safety, housing, to be heard and to be alive.

Calls for concrete change beyond speeches

Abahlali called for meaningful recognition to go beyond speeches and flowers, calling instead for secure access to land and decent housing, basic services, an end to political killings and intimidation, and stronger action against GBV. The movement also called for decent work, healthcare and education, reproductive healthcare and contraception, a guaranteed income recognising unpaid care work, action to reduce food prices and accountability for the killings of women activists.

Walter warned against Women’s Day becoming symbolic and said:

“Women’s Day cannot become another day of flowers, hashtags and speeches while women continue to bury their daughters, mothers, sisters and friends.”

Hope amid grief

Despite her concerns, Walter said she remained hopeful because of the women she had encountered who continued to fight against violence and oppression. She said:

“But as heavy as my heart feels today, I refuse to lose hope.”

She added that the strength of women was not that they were “unbreakable”, but their ability to rebuild and support one another.

Abahlali said Women’s Month should be a period of remembrance, organisation and struggle until women could live safely and with dignity:

“Until that happens, August cannot be a month of celebration. It must be a month of remembering, a month of organising, a month of struggle.”

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