VIDEO: Impumelelo Award winners: Etafeni – Fit for Life, Fit for Work Programme
December 4, 2025
Six-year old Limthande Mbiko, one of 120 children in our ECD programme
December 5, 2025
Gender-based violence (GBV) continues to devastate families in Nyanga, one of Cape Town’s highest-risk areas for violent crime and abuse. At Etafeni, we confront this reality every single day. The trauma carried by women, children, and families in our programmes is not abstract — it is personal, urgent, and life-altering. The murder of a 9 year old young girl, earlier this year, and other violent attacks on women at a taxi rank in the community in November, underscore a truth we cannot ignore: GBV is a pandemic that destroys lives, futures, and the fabric of our society.
As Etafeni, we believe that ending GBV begins with education, advocacy, accountability, and healing. Through our Social Work Programme, we fight tirelessly to ensure that survivors are supported, perpetrators are held accountable, and communities are equipped to challenge harmful behaviours. Our team works in schools, homes, churches, and public spaces to dismantle the silence and shame that so often shield violence.
This year, the 16 Days of Activism Campaign holds particular weight. South Africa’s 2025 theme is “Socio-Economic Power: A Pathway to Eliminate Gender- Based Violence.” At the same time, the United Nations calls on the world to “UNiTE to End Digital Violence against All Women and Girls.” Both themes speak directly to what we witness in Nyanga: poverty and inequality deepening vulnerability, and the rise of digital harassment, threats, and abuse creating new layers of trauma for victims. Online spaces — meant to connect and empower — can become battlegrounds where women and girls experience humiliation, intimidation, and coercion with devastating emotional consequences.
At Etafeni, we are using these 16 days not only to raise awareness but to activate real change. Our programme is rooted in the belief that communities must be part of the solution — especially men and boys. That is why our 2025 Men’s Conference is one of the most critical events of this campaign. THE MEN’S CONFERENCE: SHIFTING MINDSETS, REBUILDING RESPONSIBILITY Too often, GBV interventions focus on women alone, while the most urgent transformation must occur among men. Our Men’s Conference brings fathers, brothers, community leaders, young boys, and men from diverse backgrounds into one space to confront harmful norms.
The day will focus on redefining healthy masculinity — what it means to be a man who nurtures rather than harms, and how men can play an active role in preventing violence before it happens. It also creates space to talk openly about men’s emotional and mental health struggles, and how to address them without resorting to violence. Through emphasizing accountability, mentorship, and the responsibility to challenge abusive behaviour at home, among friends, and in the workplace, the conference encourages men to lead real change in their communities.
The Men’s Conference will conclude by selecting a group of men who have regularly attended our Men’s Dialogue Sessions to receive funded Accredited Security Training and job-placement support. Other men will also be invited to enroll in our Fit for Life, Fit for Work job-readiness programme to gain practical skills that improve their chances of employment. ETAFENI’S 16 DAYS CAMPAIGN ACTIVITIES:
- Candlelight Ceremony – 25 November
- Men’s Conference: “Redefining Masculinity: From Violence to Values” – 28 November
- The Intersection of GBV & HIV and AIDS Workshop – 1–2 December
- Health Awareness and Testing – 01 – 05 December Throughout these 16 days, our message is clear: Violence is not normal. Abuse is not culture.
Harm is not love. Every woman and child deserves to live, walk, and dream in safety — online and offline. At Etafeni, we remain committed to building that future. The 16 Days of Activism is not just a campaign for us — it is a call to action we answer every day, long after the posters come down.
