By Akani Nkuna
Minister in the Presidency for Women, Youth and Persons with Disability, Sindisiwe Chikunga has reaffirmed that gender equality is a constitutional obligation, not merely a response to acts of violence or tragedy.
Speaking on the government’s commitment to systematic change, she emphasised the need for proactive enforcement of equality across all sectors, ensuring lasting societal transformation beyond reactive measures.
“We need systemic change, and as a department we are committed to enforcing gender equality throughout government and society as a constitutional imperative and not as an afterthought that emerges when the next victim is lying cold,” said Chikunga.
The minister was speaking at the launch of the National End GBVF Dashboard in Johannesburg. The event took place at the Anglo American Centre for Experimental Learning as part of the Roots to Rise initiative.
It represents a milestone for the End GBVF Movement, introducing South Africa’s first public-facing tool designed to help stakeholders, including municipalities, service providers and civil society, monitor progress, identify gaps and prioritise key areas for improvement in the fight against gender-based violence and femicide.
“The dashboard will serve as both a mirror and a map — reflecting the state of GBVF services across the country, while guiding action and collaboration going forward. It brings visibility to community-level efforts, helps make systematic shifts, and empowers all sectors to take informed, decisive steps,” the department said a statement on Tuesday.
Chikunga said dashboard would help guide decisions, resource allocation and partnerships.
“For far too long, we have operated in silos. For far too long, we have struggled to measure the true scale and impact of gender-based violence and femicide. With tools such as this dashboard, I am really pleased that we are now moving towards a national, public, interactive mechanism that is able to track our progress across institutions and localities, identify where we are falling short and rally faster, smarter, more coordinated responses,” she said.
The dashboard will centralise real-time data on service delivery, prevention and justice outcomes, helping identify patterns and gaps. It tracks progress across all six pillars of the national strategic plan at local, provincial and national levels, and enables comparisons between districts, monitors readiness and ensures accountability.
“And now, this dashboard consolidates, visualises and localises that journey. It shifts us from reports that gather dust to real-time data that drives action,” the minister said.
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