The Director and Chairperson of the Saartjie Baartman Centre for Women and Children and the Western Cape Shelter Movement respectively, Bernadine Bachar, cautions the public that shelters are not going to make it through the year, unless government offers financial assistance to cover the additional costs incurred in procuring protective gear like masks, sanitizers and the transportation of clients in shelters, who need to be taken taken to health facilities for medical care. 

Baartman explains that in the Western Cape, the government subsidises up to 45% of a shelter’s total budget, leaving them with the herculean task of raising the remaining amount themselves, in a sluggish economy that struggles to grow above 1% each year. She says the lockdown and social distancing have brought shelters’ usual fundraising efforts to a complete halt. 

Under normal circumstances, Bachar has to raise about R 6 million every year, which constitutes 55% of the Saartjie Baartman Centre for Women and Children’s annual budget, to keep the centre afloat. The Coronavirus pandemic, and the call for social distancing has resulted in the postponement of social events like music festivals, golf days and high teas, which is how shelters usually raise funds. Bachar says without some form of assistance from government, shelters will not get through the year.  

The Western Cape Department of Social Development, has thus far, engaged with shelters on the additional expenditure and provided them with mechanisms to use surpluses of previous year’s allocations to cover the additional costs. Bachar stresses that this is not enough in the long run. 

The financing of shelters has historically identified as a huge challenge. Bachar refers to the 2019 Safety of Shelters report by the Commission of Gender Equality, which found that not only are shelters in South Africa inadequately funded, but they are also not uniformly funded. 

The Commission found in the report that the lack of funding is a recurring theme throughout all the sampled shelters. It was further determined that of those who do receive funding, some shelters receive monies late from the Department of Social Development resulting in “immense cash-flow concerns”.  

In late 2018 OFM News reported on the release of a report by the Hlanganisa Institute for Development in Southern Africa (HiDSA) revealing that not only is there a shortage of shelters generally, there appears to be a lack of shelters that cater to victims of gender-based violence and femicide in particular. According to HIDSA, it is not known how many shelters exist in the country, due to the Department of Social Development’s broad classifications. 

There was however an agreement by the government and all organisations that irrespective of this, the need for shelters far outweighs the availability. The North West, Free State and Northern Cape at the time could only cater for close to 7%, 5% and 4% of domestic violence victims.

OFM News