As SA enters 2026, activists and community leaders say the fight against gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF) will require stronger systems, greater protection for children and sustainable funding — after a year in which NGOs struggled to survive and serious accountability failures were exposed. In 2025, the GBVF sector was hit hard by the cessation of US funding, forcing many organisations to scale back or close, even as the presidency declared GBVF a national crisis. The Dispatch reported extensively on cases involving children, including sexual assaults by teachers across the Eastern Cape.
Some of those implicated were dismissed. Almost 100 teachers from the province were reported to the SA Council for Educators (SACE) for misconduct — including sexual assault and corporal punishment — over the past two financial years, with sexual offences making up the largest share of cases. “One of the highlights of the year is that gender-based violence has now been declared a national crisis.” In one incident, a pupil was raped by her teacher during a school camp; the teacher has since been dismissed.
Children’s rights activist Petros Majola said the year was marked by “shocking news almost every day”. Communities often packed courtrooms in support of victims, he said, but left “with a big disappointment when the court decides to grant bail”. “Even in schools, children are not safe,” he said, referring to pupils protesting over alleged harassment by teachers.
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In October, three convicted sex offenders — listed on the national register — were still teaching in Joe Gqabi and Amathole East. They were dismissed three weeks later. Majola said the case exposed systemic failures. “When a government employee is convicted and sentenced, the system should talk to each other… all benefits should stop,” he said.
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