Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality Executive Mayor, Babalwa Lobishe said the seriousness of the fight against Gender Based Violence and Femicide can no longer be leap service. The Executive Mayor was addressing an event that was hosted by the Municipality to mark the start of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender Based Violence at the City hall on Tuesday, 26 November 2024.
The Executive Mayor said the involvement of men as individuals and organisations in this cause was critical. She said the efforts to fight GBV can longer only be a fight by women alone. “Woman need to be allowed to be soft and be taken care of. This issue of being called Imbokodo, must be a choice and not a situation that is forced through the abusive experiences.
When women fought for freedom, they wanted to be free not only against apartheid, but against all forms of abuse, that graduates into femicide at the end,” said Executive Mayor Lobishe.
The Executive expressed her commendation at the efforts that are being made by the NGOs. “I appreciate the efforts that you continue to make with the little resources that you have. As the Metro we will also explore the options that we have so that we can take off some of the burden that you have that put pressure on your resources,” she said.
In August this year, the office of the Deputy President chose Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality as one of the Municipalities that must work on the GBVF efforts for a period of 100 days.
Subsequent to that, a number of Municipal officials were trained on strategies and implementation plan on the 100 days deliverables.
As part of the 100 days programme the Metro set itself a number of goals.
The goals set up are the following:
To promote the implementation of the Sexual Harassment policy and goals within the work place.
Development of women owned Small Medium Enterprises within the Njoli Development Project.
To promote health check-ups of both victims and support personnel that work within the GBV.
The Executive Mayor also announced an appointment of a coordinator in her office to lead the GBVF programmes and initiatives, working with the Special Programmes Unit Sub-directorate.
“The seriousness of this matter demands that it be attended and supported from the highest office, as an office we need to lead in action,” added the Executive Mayor Lobishe.
Speaking at the event, the Nelson Mandela Bay GBVF Forum Chairperson, Thembani Gqiba expressed the GBVF stakeholder’s frustration at what he called ‘lack of resources and capacity’ to support GBVF efforts.
“Work is happening and colleagues are doing a great job, but lack of resources remains a serious challenge. We are calling for government to assist. hallenge of resources remains the biggest hurdle that impedes the efforts that are being made,” said Gqiba.
“All government entities need to commit resources, both capacity and financial to make a dent on the fight against GBVF. As NGOs we cannot do it on our own. Nelson Mandela Bay NGOs are a shining example in relations to work happening on the ground, however resources remain a challenge,” added Gqiba.
Gqiba said another challenge was the lack of participation of funded NGOs in the fight against GBVF.
“For work of the forum to make a meaningful difference, government agencies or departments must dedicate officials to fully participate in the GBV forum so that there can be synergy between the work of the forum and government,” he said.
The GBVF Forum is a forum made of the Municipality, relevant government departments and entities and NGOs dealing with GBVF. Members of the religious sector also form part of the forum. It was established to create a conducive environment for GBVF victims, to mobilise stakeholders and resources and create a clear programme of action to fight GBVF within the Nelson Mandela Bay.
NMB Communications
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