In the relentless fight against Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF), grassroots organizations like The Great People of South Africa (TGPSA) stand on the frontlines, working tirelessly to dismantle systemic barriers that prevent survivors from accessing justice, safety, and healing.
But this fight cannot be won alone—it requires resources, partnerships, and collective action. This is why we are profoundly grateful for the unwavering support of the GBVF Response Fund, an organization that not only funds the fight against GBV but fuels real change in marginalized communities across South Africa.
The GBVF Response Fund is a powerful and strategic funding mechanism that was established to accelerate the implementation of South Africa’s National Strategic Plan (NSP) on GBV and Femicide.
The Fund mobilizes resources from corporates, philanthropists, and the private sector to ensure that grassroots organizations, like ours, receive the financial support needed to make a tangible difference in prevention, response, and support services for GBV survivors.
The Fund works to bridge the gap between policy and action, ensuring that resources reach community-led initiatives that have a direct and meaningful impact in high-risk and under-resourced areas. Their investment in gender justice is not just about funding—it is about transforming communities, empowering survivors, and holding systems accountable.
Through the invaluable support of the GBVF Response Fund, TGPSA has been able to implement critical community legal empowerment programs in some of the most GBV-affected areas in the Western Cape, including Khayelitsha, Delft, Kraaifontein, and Philippi.
These are communities where access to justice is often out of reach—where survivors struggle to navigate the legal system and perpetrators walk free due to lack of support, legal knowledge, and systemic failures.
Thanks to the Fund’s support, we have been able to provide community-based legal empowerment training, equipping survivors and communities with knowledge of their legal rights and empowering them to become changemakers in the fight against GBV. We have offered paralegal advice services, giving survivors and victims the legal guidance they need to access justice, protection orders, and necessary legal interventions. Our court support programs help survivors navigate the judicial system while preventing secondary victimization.
We have also strengthened referral pathways, connecting survivors to safe shelters, legal aid, Thuthuzela Care Centres (TCCs), and mental health services. These services are critical in ensuring that survivors are not only supported legally but also emotionally and socially as they rebuild their lives after experiencing trauma.
We believe that the fight against GBV cannot be won in isolation. This is why we work in partnership with a network of incredible organizations, including New Heritage Foundation, Incema NPO, Rasta Community Movement, Rape Crisis Cape Town, Nonceba Safe Home, Fathers Connect, and Impulse Cape Town.
Together, we engage with traditional and religious leaders, policymakers, activists, political parties, and gender justice movements, ensuring that every sector plays its role in dismantling GBV at its roots.
Our work falls under Pillar 3 of the National Strategic Plan (NSP) on GBVF, which focuses on ensuring justice, safety, and protection for victims and survivors. Legal empowerment is a crucial tool in bridging the gap between vulnerable communities and the legal system.
It is about shifting power—from the hands of oppressors to the hands of survivors. It is about ensuring that no survivor is left to face the system alone and that justice is not a privilege but a right for all.
One of the most significant areas of growth has been our visibility in both social and traditional media spaces. With the backing of the GBVF Response Fund, we have been able to amplify survivor voices, challenge harmful narratives, and highlight the urgent need for systemic change.
Our work has been featured on various media platforms, allowing us to engage broader audiences and place GBV at the center of national conversations. Whether through radio discussions, television interviews, newspaper features, or digital storytelling, we have made it clear that gender-based violence is not just a statistic—it is a crisis that demands action.
None of this would be possible without the visionary leadership of the GBVF Response Fund team, led by the phenomenal Sis Tirhani Manganyi—a powerhouse of human rights advocacy and community development. Under her leadership, the Fund has become a beacon of hope for grassroots organizations, ensuring that real change happens where it is needed the most.
To Sis Tirhani and the entire GBVF Response Fund team—we see you, we honor you, and we thank you.
Your support has given survivors a voice, communities the tools to fight back, and activists the resources to keep going. Your impact will be felt for generations to come.
Together, we are proving that when funding meets grassroots action, change is not just possible—it is inevitable.
