Johannesburg - The survivors of gender-based violence (GBV) living in rural and semi-rural mining areas of South Africa, are often abandoned and left destitute with no financial means or other key forms of support.
Some of them can be found in the “platinum belt” of Rustenburg, North West.
A report released by Stats SA to Parliament in 2019 found that men outnumbered women by 120 to 100 in mining areas.
This has created a potent mix of historical structural violence in which women, especially those with children, are dependent on male partners for survival. Add in the visibility of people who are part of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Queer, Transgender+ community (LGBTQIA+) who may be exposed to homophobia, the violence can become difficult to monitor.
“Several male workers from provinces across South Africa and neighbouring states come from patriarchal societies where women must be submissive. They arrive in Rustenburg, form relationships with women in the area, and find that these women don’t conform to their expectations of partners,” explained director and project manager of Kitso-ke-Lesedi, Tau Motlhaping.
Kitso-ke-Lesedi is a community-based organisation (CBO) that works to provide particularly GBV victims with protection, measures to reconnect them to loved ones and assistance with reporting cases to the police.
Mothlaping said that they had found through interactions that different cultural values, compounded by social issues such as substance abuse, result in gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF), transactional sex, sexually transmitted diseases, and high incidences of HIV/Aids.
“One of the significant causes of the region’s dysfunctional households and domestic violence is due to the multicultural nature of our society. There are places that attract transient workers from a range of cultures, who speak different languages and have various outlooks and belief systems,” he said.
Motlhaping has helped pilot Kitso-ke-Lesedi since 2007 and part of the organisation’s mission is to support young boys who have suffered from violence and abuse in their homes.
“In 2007 when we realised how toxic masculine (and) cultural behaviour contributed to the threat to community safety and disenfranchised women’s rights, it galvanised some men into creating change,” said Mothlaping.
Since its inception, Kitso-ke-Lesedi has worked not only to help victims of abuse, but also to educate the communities’ men on toxic masculinity, and how to identify it and eliminate it.
“We approached the authorities about changing it into a privately-run facility in 2013. Following this, we were appointed to manage and staff the centre. We also mentored and trained service personnel and marketed it to the community. After two years, a full-time social worker took over, and the centre is still operational,” he said.
Motlhaping explained that some of the workshops for women include skills development programmes that allow them to use their newly acquired skills to start small businesses and employ other community members. One of the most popular skills offered is driving lessons which can lead to employment opportunities.
Although most perpetrators of domestic violence are male, Mothlaping pointed out that men are also part of the solution in the mining area.
“Some men have voluntarily attended workshops to help them deal with toxic masculinity issues, including anger management. They have turned away from GBV after realising what their behaviour was doing to their partners and children,” he said.
Working with the Mogwase police station, about 50km from the CBO’s main office, is a crisis centre. This building provides abused women and children with up to seven days of protected accommodation.
“The two-roomed building offers kitchen and counselling spaces. We treat the counselling/ session room as the ‘Victim-Friendly Room’ which can be utilised by all in the services of GBVF, including police officers needing a specific counselling space,” he said.
Other services include support with clothing, food and transport. He said, as at July 2022, Kitso-ke-Lesedi has handled about 192 cases in tandem with the SAPS.
Mothlaping said that after 2019’s national outcry over femicide, and the announcement by President Cyril Ramaphosa in 2020 to establish a GBVF Response Fund and the enactment of three Acts (of Parliament) against GBVF, the number of volunteers who assisted with interventions and educational workshops increased. He said that it helped that their CBO was approved for support by the GBVF Response Fund.
Lindi Dlamini, CEO of the GBVF Response Fund, said: “The range of interventions by Kitso-ke-Lesedi is truly remarkable. It is heartening to know that there are CBOs like this embedded in our communities.
“Furthermore, it is certainly encouraging to note their ties with the local SAPS. This perfectly illustrates what can be achieved when multiple stakeholders or services cooperate for the benefit of others,” Dlamini said.