Housing audit needed to address access, accountability
by Safiyia Stanfley MPL – Provincial Chairperson of the Democratic Alliance Women’s Network in the Northern Cape
Date: 30 June 2017
Release: Immediate
Type: Press Statement
The Democratic Alliance welcomes that some provincial departments have made commitments to combat the scourge of gender-based violence and to promote the safety of communities during their recent budget debates. Yet, we are concerned that there is no long-term strategy in the province to address and combat this scourge effectively on government level.
To ensure that women and children are truly safe, we need to see that provincial governments are working together in a cohesive manner.
Despite commitments here and there from departments, it still appears as though a long-term strategy for overall integration is missing and we are still waiting for the summit in order to break down the issues relating to gender-based violence, and come up with recommendations on how to tackle it, which the premier promised during a house sitting in May this year.
Current initiatives are underfunded, which impacts on the provincial government’s ability to implement sustainable programmes which delivers long-term change.
The budget for Special Programmes in the Office of the Premier increases by only 5.5%, but the Premier herself states that sexual violence against women and children has increased by 9.7%. While we are in a constrained fiscal environment, we must ensure that departments’ budgets reflect the need to address violence against women and children.
As the Democratic Alliance, we will engage with our councillors on the Child Friendly Communities Framework developed by the Office of the Premier and we will ensure that our councillors understand the importance of adopting integrated development plans which address the needs of our children at a municipal level.
Media Enquiries
Safiyia Stanfley MPL
Provincial Chairperson of the Democratic Alliance Women’s Network in the Northern Cape
084 919 4157
Tharina Whittaker
Researcher
071 251 5558
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