Solidarity Fund approves beneficiaries of GBV support funding

16th February 2021 By: Sane Dhlamini - Creamer Media Senior Contributing Editor and Researcher

Solidarity Fund approves beneficiaries of GBV support funding

The Solidarity Fund has approved 321 community-based organisations (CBOs) and 11 large public benefit organisations (PBOs) as beneficiaries for one-off funding that will support the elimination of gender-based violence (GBV).

In a statement, on Tuesday, the organisation says the value of the funding is R61.25-million and R9.99-million respectively.

South Africa saw an increase in GBV cases when the country went under lockdown owing to the pandemic.

The allocation was bolstered when the UK, through the British High Commission, issued a grant of R50-million, R25-million of which was allocated to the Fund’s GBV initiative – bringing the total to R75-million.

The funds are to be disbursed in the form of one-off grants, ranging from R50 000 to R250 000 for CBOs and R250 000 to R1-million for larger programmes.

“The need for this kind of large-scale funding is illustrated by the number of applications that poured into Tshikululu Social Investments, the organisation assisting the Fund to manage the process. Once the calls were closed, it was confirmed that 1 020 CBO and 129 large PBO applications were received. This is the largest number of grant applications that Tshikululu has managed in its 20-year existence,” the Fund said.

The CBO's portion of the funding will impact about four-million people through various organisations providing services across the country. For the large PBOs with systemic impact, a total of 11 organisations will receive just under R10-million in funding to implement systemic change programmes and initiatives across the country. About 89 000 people will directly benefit from this funding and catalyse change for many more.

Executive Head of the Fund’s Humanitarian Pillar Wendy Tlou said while there were thousands of organisations doing important and impactful work in this field, many did not meet the criteria as set out or make it through the screening process.

“All along the way, tough decisions had to be made to ensure that the limited funds could be applied as effectively as possible in areas that they could make the biggest impact,” she said.

The largest distribution of funding, 25%, will go to Gauteng, 16% to the Western Cape, 14% to KwaZulu-Natal and 11% to the North West.

Relatively equal distribution has been achieved across rural, urban and informal settlements.

The successful applicants should be issued with grant agreements this week, while unsuccessful applicants will be notified by the end of February, via email.