Cape Town - The provincial Department of Social Development (DSD) recently launched its Gender-Based Violence (GBV) Ambassador programme in Ceres, as well as a new mobile office.
The launch took place on Monday with Social Development MEC Jaco Londt at the Ceres Town Hall.
The launch marked the sixth of its kind in the Western Cape.
Another GBV Ambassador Programme is scheduled for launch on December 10 for the Metro North Region, serving the Dunoon, Langa, Bishop Lavis, Elsies River, and Fisantekraal communities.
The department said GBV ambassadors are trained volunteers from within the community who are equipped to provide information about available support services to residents for the intervention and prevention of gender-based violence.
The mobile office is a fully-equipped facility and will serve residents of the Cape Winelands/Overberg region, particularly those living in rural areas where access to these services are often an onerous undertaking.
Other DSD mobile offices are located in the Central Karoo, West Coast and now the Cape Winelands/ Overberg region.
Londt said DSD in the Western Cape worked with the Swartland
Municipality in 2022 for the establishment of the first GBV Ambassador programme in that region.
The programme was officially launched on December, 9, 2022, when volunteers received certificates indicating the completion of their training and competency to undertake the required work.
Other programmes are based in Delft, Grabouw, Heinz Park, Philippi and now Ceres.
In total, there are 129 GBV ambassadors across these areas.
“There is no ‘lifespan’ to how long they can be an ambassador, as it is on a volunteer basis. DSD social workers first look at their current network of community members, such as foster and safety parents to see who would be interested, and then they place a call through other community structures such as the Community Policing Forum to find more volunteers.”
Londt said these volunteers undertake extensive training by the DSD and partner NGOs in the GBV space, including trauma counselling.
GBV Ambassador and Prince Alfred-Hamlet resident, Saartjie Franse, said: “My heart goes out to children, women and everyone experiencing gender-based violence… I believe we will, especially the young people, bring them together to teach them where there are safer places, what we can do and what the state can do. Their safety comes first.”