Cost of establishing National Council on GBVF stalling Parly’s process to capacitate the body

CAPE TOWN - The cost of establishing the National Council on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF) is stalling Parliament’s process to capacitate the body.  

The introduction of a council is one of the responses to a 2019 public outcry for government to do more to stem the scourge after a spate of deadly attacks.  

However, with operational costs for setting up the council estimated at R53 million, Parliament’s Committee on Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities said it is still unclear how it will be funded.  

The act to provide for a National Council on GBVF was assented to by the president in May as one of three pieces of legislation in response to public pressure to tighten the law for these crimes.  

The council, which should comprise seven candidates representing civil society, is supposed to provide strategic leadership to eliminate GBVF in the country.  

But the chairperson of Parliament’s Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities committee, Liezl van der Merwe, said the committee has determined there is no budget for it.  

“We are concerned that if the requisite funds are not available, we will be setting this council up for failure. Considering the national crisis that gender-based violence is, it’s imperative that our portfolio committee do due diligence by firstly establishing where the funding and resources will come from.”  

The committee is set to develop the call for nominations by the end of March, with the hope of shortlisting and interviewing candidates in the second parliamentary term.