South Africa Declares Gender-Based Violence a National Disaster

Updated: 29 Nov 2025

On this day in 2025, South Africa officially classified gender-based violence and femicide as a national disaster, following nationwide protests where women across the country lay down for 15 minutes at noon to honour the 15 women murdered daily in South Africa. The declaration came after the Women for Change movement's "G20 Women's Shutdown" campaign gathered over one million petition signatures and saw demonstrations in major cities including Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg. This historic categorisation enabled government departments to redirect allocated budgets toward implementing immediate measures to combat the crisis, marking a watershed moment in South Africa's struggle against gender-based violence.

How we know this

01BBC News Africa. "South Africa calls gender violence a national disaster after protests." 23 November 2025. Available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa
02Women for Change. "G20 Women's Shutdown Campaign Statement." Instagram, 21 November 2025.
03Hlabisa, Velenkosini. Statement by the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs on the National Disaster Classification. Pretoria: Department of Cooperative Governance, 21 November 2025.

Last updated · 29 Nov 2025

Cite this entry

South African History Online. (2025, November 23). South Africa Declares Gender-Based Violence a National Disaster. South African History Online. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0153102

South African History Online (2025) 'South Africa Declares Gender-Based Violence a National Disaster', South African History Online, 23 November. Available at: https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0153102 (Accessed: 30 October 2026).

South African History Online, South Africa Declares Gender-Based Violence a National Disaster [website], https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0153102, (accessed 30 October 2026).

"South Africa Declares Gender-Based Violence a National Disaster." South African History Online, 23 Nov. 2025, https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0153102. Accessed 30 Oct. 2026.

South African History Online. "South Africa Declares Gender-Based Violence a National Disaster." South African History Online. November 23, 2025. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0153102.