The six pillars
Click any pillar to see what is failing and why it matters. Figures are from the NSP Five-Year Review published by the government in March 2026.
This pillar governs whether South Africa has a functioning structure to coordinate and enforce the NSP. It covers the National Council on GBVF, inter-ministerial coordination, the Presidential Working Group, and monitoring systems. Without this pillar working, every other pillar is uncoordinated.
What is failing
- The National Council on GBVF was established under Act 9 of 2024 but has never held a formal Council meeting.
- The Council has not published a costed action plan with indicators and timelines, as the Act requires.
- No binding mechanism exists to require all three spheres of government to align their Annual Performance Plans and budgets with the NSP.
- The R14.94bn committed to GBVF response had only 40.7% spent after five years. No consolidated expenditure report has been published.
- Monitoring and evaluation data is fragmented across 17 departments with no consolidated public dashboard.
The highest number of "in progress" indicators in any pillar. 83% of prevention indicators are formally in progress, but this is largely meaningless: the National Prevention Strategy was approved in 2023, but none of its implementation components have started. "In progress" means the strategy exists on paper.
What is failing
- The National Prevention Strategy was approved in 2023 but has no funded implementation plan and none of its components have commenced.
- School-based prevention curricula exist in some provinces but have no national consistency or evaluation framework.
- No national GBV prevention mass media campaign has been sustained beyond a 16-Day activation period.
- Community mobilisation programmes lack standardised indicators, so progress cannot be meaningfully measured.
The largest pillar by indicator count. 31 indicators achieved looks strong, but 9 are formally not met and those 9 are the most concrete failures in the system: the DNA backlog, Victim Friendly Room gaps, IPID reporting failures, and evidence preservation timelines.
What is failing
- 232,697 DNA entries are overdue. Only 1.5% of profiles are processed within the 30-day legal deadline (Criminal Law (Forensic Procedures) Amendment Act 37 of 2013).
- GBV&F cases prioritised for DNA fast-tracking fell 64.9% from the 2022/23 peak of 20,492 to 7,182 in 2025/26.
- Victim Friendly Rooms are absent or non-functional at hundreds of police stations. SAPS has not published a station-level audit.
- Evidence preservation periods for sexual offences are not legislated; cases are dropped when biological evidence degrades before processing.
- IPID does not publish disaggregated outcome data on rape cases involving police members.
Services exist in major urban centres. The CGE KZN audit (October 2025) found that in rural KwaZulu-Natal, Thuthuzela Care Centres are understaffed, shelters are full, and psychosocial support is unavailable outside business hours.
What is failing
- Shelter capacity is insufficient: survivors are turned away or placed in accommodation that does not meet minimum safety standards.
- No national minimum standards for GBV shelters exist in legislation. The Social Service Professions Act does not cover GBV shelter operations.
- Psychosocial support in rural areas is largely absent. TCC staffing shortfalls mean some centres operate with volunteer counsellors.
- Legal aid referrals from TCCs have long delays, leaving survivors without legal support during the critical post-disclosure period.
The weakest pillar by achievement rate. Only 15.4% of economic empowerment indicators are achieved. The NSP describes economic dependence as a primary reason survivors cannot leave abusive relationships, yet this pillar has the least progress to show after five years.
What is failing
- Only 40.7% of the R14.94bn committed to the NSP has been spent after five years, with no public breakdown by pillar.
- Maintenance (child support and spousal maintenance) enforcement is minimal. Abusers are not subject to automatic wage garnishment.
- Gender-responsive budgeting is formally policy but has not been applied with measurable requirements across departments.
- Economic empowerment programmes for survivors exist in some provinces but have no national scale, consistent funding, or outcome data.
The smallest pillar. The primary gap is not in producing research but in converting it into funded, legislated policy. The forensic DNA backlog is a direct consequence of chronic under-investment in forensic infrastructure that this pillar was meant to track and escalate.
What is failing
- No statutory reporting obligation requires departments to report GBVF data to the National Council, meaning the Council has no consolidated evidence base.
- Femicide data is not consistently disaggregated by relationship between victim and perpetrator across provinces.
- Research findings are not routinely translated into policy recommendations that reach the legislature.
Source: NSP GBVF Five-Year Review (March 2026), Commission for Gender Equality (2023, 2025), ISS Africa (March 2026), UN Women (July 2026), DNA Board Annual Report (2025/26).