The Democratic Alliance (DA) marked the start of the 16 Days of Activism of No Violence Against Women and Children by visiting the Potters’ House Shelter at Burgerspark in Pretoria.
To our dismay, we discovered that the which for many years provided a haven for 28 women and 12 young girls, had been shamefully unable to operate fully since 28 June 2024 due to a shut-off of funding from the Gauteng Department of Social Development (GDSD).
By defunding this shelter, the Gauteng Government has left many vulnerable women and young girls stranded. They are deprived of the essential services that could help them escape the hardships of street life and denied an opportunity to reintegrate into the economy and reclaim their dignity.
This shelter was reportedly denied funding because it was deemed non-compliant with the DGSD regulations. As a result, it has had to go cap-in-hand looking for whatever private donor funding it can find, but this is insufficient for it to remain open as a live-in shelter for the survivors of abuse and violence that it supports.
Despite lacking funding, we found some caregivers on site who continue to provide partial support during day time hours to a handful of survivors of gender-based violence (GBV) as best as they can.
As part of our effort to assist them, the DA distributed pepper sprays to caregivers at the Potters’ Shelter. The pepper sprays will help homeless women and young girls protect themselves.
See photo here, here, and here.
Some women and children who were previously cared for have been referred to other organisations. Unfortunately, these organisations are not providing the same level of services, such as school transportation for young girls and adequate shelter for both caregivers and beneficiaries. As a result, beneficiaries are moving from place to place, trying to find where they can lay their heads.
While the DA does not support the funding of non-compliant shelters, it is absurd that instead of helping NPOs to become compliant, the department chooses to defund them without any contingency plan for the victims of GBV.
Without proper shelter, some of these women and children are compelled to return to their alleged abusers, which perpetuates the cycle of abuse.
The DA has consistently fought against the abuse of women and children, finding it unacceptable that the voices of these survivors are only heard for 16 days while 365 days of activism and action to protect and empower the vulnerable are needed.
We have also criticised the unnecessary return of half a billion rands to the Treasury by the GDSD when this money could have been used to fund and prevent the closures of shelters.
The DA will question the MEC for GDSD, Faith Mazibuko, on the specific reasons for the shelter’s defunding and why no alternative plan was provided for the beneficiaries of Potter’s Shelter.
The DA will continue to hold the Gauteng government to account for its disregard of shelters, NGOs and other social services across the province.