Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana has announced an allocation of over R4.19 billion to strengthen South Africa’s response to gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF), including the recruitment of more than 3,500 social workers.
Tabling the 2026 Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement in Parliament on Wednesday, Godongwana said the additional resources would help implement measures announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa in September to address the unacceptably high levels of violence against women.
The largest allocation, R3.8 billion, will be used to hire more than 3,500 social workers to strengthen prevention efforts in response to rising murders and attacks on women.
There's also R186 million allocated to strengthen forensic and investigative capacity, aimed at supporting efforts to investigate gender-based violence cases.
As part of its plans to improve the handling of sexual violence cases and support for survivors, government will expand the number of sexual offences courts across the country from 55 to 101.
The number of Thuthuzela Care Centres, which provide support to rape victims, will also increase from 72 to 80 by the 2028/29 financial year.
The expansion is intended to strengthen services available to rape survivors and improve the response to sexual offences.
R157.4 million for coordination and oversight
Government has further allocated an additional R157.4 million to the Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities to improve national coordination and oversight of the government’s response to gender-based violence and femicide.
The funding is intended to strengthen the coordination of interventions across government as authorities seek to address the high levels of violence against women.
The allocations form part of the measures outlined in the 2026 Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement to give effect to the president’s commitments on GBVF.
The funding commitments cover prevention through additional social workers, stronger forensic and investigative capacity, expanded access to sexual offences courts and survivor support centres, as well as improved national coordination and oversight.
IOL News