The Free State department of social development says 504 GBV cases were recorded in Mangaung during the 2025/26 financial year. The cases were reported in Bloemfontein and Thaba Nchu, prompting the department to intensify support and prevention programmes across the metro.

The province has introduced several interventions, including shelters that provide victims with safe accommodation, protection, counselling, psychological care, and material support, said spokesperson Thembile Nqabeni. Thuthuzela Care Centres also provide trauma containment and psychosocial support in communities.

The department’s prevention work includes its 365 Days GBVF Prevention Programme, aimed at rebuilding social cohesion and reducing violence across the province. Social workers are also available after hours, while perpetrators referred through the courts may receive psychosocial support aimed at changing harmful behaviour, said Nqabeni.

Communities, civil society organisations, government departments, men, boys, and women will all need to take part in efforts to curb gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF). The scale of the problem requires a collective response and sustained community involvement rather than intervention only after violence has occurred, said Nqabeni.

The concern comes amid heightened national attention on GBV following the recovery of a ninth woman’s body in Ekurhuleni, east of Johannesburg, last week. The case has added to calls for stronger prevention measures and coordinated responses to violence against women and children.

GBVF is not simply a social problem, but reflects entrenched patriarchal attitudes, unequal power relations, and harmful social norms that continue to undermine the freedom, dignity, and safety of women and children, said Mathabo Hlalele, Free State social development MEC.

Thembile Nqabeni. Photo: Kekeletso Mosebetsi

Men must move beyond condemning GBVF only after another woman has been killed or abused and become active participants in changing the attitudes and behaviour that sustain violence, said Hlalele. She called on men to challenge patriarchy among themselves and promote masculinity based on equality, accountability, respect, and human dignity.

“Men must no longer stand at the edges of the struggle while women bury their daughters, sisters, and mothers.” Hlalele added men who fail to challenge violence allow it space to survive and should instead become active participants in efforts to prevent abuse.

The department has introduced the Tau Di Ya Rora social work programme, led by male social workers, to mobilise men and boys as agents of change. It will be rolled out in all 82 Free State towns in partnership with non-profit organisations across the province.

The programme will target behaviour change, anger management, conflict resolution, social cohesion, and alcohol and substance abuse. It will also promote positive masculinity and encourage men and boys to become role models and advocates for safer families and communities throughout the Free State.

Through community dialogues, engagements with men and boys, and other prevention initiatives, the department aims to create spaces where harmful behaviour can be confronted directly. Men will be encouraged to take responsibility for changing attitudes and practices that contribute to gender-based violence and femicide.

Nationally, one in three women aged 16 years plus have experienced physical violencey. Three women are killed every day by intimate partners, added Nqabeni. In the 2025/26 financial year, 50,511 GBVF cases were reported to the police nationally; 30,736 resulted in arrests or referrals to the NPA.

OFM News/Kekeletso Mosebetsi cvs

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