GBVF Funding Warning

Statement by Nazley Sharif MP – DA Spokesperson on Social Development:

The DA is very concerned that the Departments of Women, Justice and Police are sitting idle around the classification of a Disaster in respect of GBVF, and are not preparing to fund or resource any Disaster measures.

The DA will therefore put in urgent Parliamentary Questions to ANC Ministers Chikunga, Kubayi and Cachalia asking what Budget Bids they made to fund the Disaster response in respect of GBV.

If it emerges that they are not even trying to fund disaster response to GBVF, blood will be on their hands.

The President’s reply to the SONA debate last week included encouraging gestures toward fighting GBVF, but over a week later the words of the speech did not translate into Budget allocations, and we must ask whether any department bids were made to the budgeting process.

The DA welcomes President Cyril Ramaphosa’s recognition of our fight taken up in the SONA debate. And I thank the President for taking the text of my speech into his debate reply, which is an encouraging first as the DA plays a constructive role in the national agenda.

Had the Ministers of Women, Justice and Police bid for National Budget they may have been able to resource the three key interventions the President spoke about:

1. The implementation of a National Prevalence Study, giving clear evidence of the scale and drivers of gender-based violence;
2. The national disaster command, coordination and accountability framework; and
3. Strengthening law enforcement and scaling up survivor-centred support.

The urgency of these interventions is not theoretical. It is visible daily in South Africa’s courts, where survivors and families confront a justice system strained by delays, under-resourcing and institutional failure.

After nearly four years and 1 384 days of waiting, the family of Nosiphiwo James finally received a measure of accountability on Wednesday, when her murderer was sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment. Nosiphiwo was killed by her intimate partner in a brutal attack in May 2022. The case was marked by repeated postponements, administrative failures and delays that forced her family to relive their trauma again and again.

In the Cape Town Regional Court on Thursday, the murder trial of Candice Robertson, who died in April 2022, was again delayed as proceedings continue following years of forensic disputes and procedural setbacks. Her family continues to wait for justice while cases move slowly through an overburdened system.

Meanwhile, on Friday, the case of Micha Renge was postponed in the Mitchell’s Plain Magistrates Court after recording equipment malfunctioned, preventing proceedings from continuing. Ms Renge was allegedly strangled with a belt by her former boyfriend in December 2025 and nearly lost her life. A survivor seeking justice should not face further trauma because basic courtroom infrastructure fails.

On 26 May 2023, Nonkululeko Gabriella (Gaby) Luenza Ndaba went missing in Boksburg and was found dead six days later, just days before her 32nd birthday. Instead of protecting her, the South African Police Service (SAPS) failed Gaby and her family at every critical point, showing little urgency when she was reported missing, failing to trace her cellphone while it was still ringing, not properly securing the crime scene, and returning key evidence before forensic analysis was completed. The investigating officer later admitted to lacking basic training and ignored important witnesses.

This was not just a mistake, but a failure of the system that denied Gaby and her family the justice they deserved.

These are not isolated incidents. They reveal a system struggling to respond to violence against women with the urgency a national disaster demands.

The DA’s questions will reveal if Ministers in Cabinet are meeting the President’s words and his acknowledgement of the DA’s contribution to this agenda.

South African women do not experience GBVF as policy language, but as daily nightmare, and the DA will continue to fight to ensure South African women receive more than words, but the resources that reflect the urgency of their safety.