Health and Wellness

2. (i) The Violence Prevention Unit (VPU) is primarily responsible for coordinating and convening multi-sector, area-based teams across the province, rather than the direct implementation of standalone violence prevention programmes.

The core function of the VPU is to bring together existing services, programmes, and community stakeholders - including health, education, social development, cultural affairs and sport as well as community groups - to work in a more aligned and strategic way. Through these area-based partnerships, the VPU facilitates shared data, joint planning, and coordinated action to address the root causes of violence.

In practice, this means that the primary focus of the VPU is to strengthen and better connect existing efforts already being delivered.  By reducing duplication, identifying gaps, and improving referral pathways between services, the VPU ensures that current programmes are more efficient and responsive to local needs. A key aspect of this work is the unit’s capability to generate and translate data into actionable insights that directly inform violence prevention and law enforcement interventions.  This includes systematically analysing health data related to trauma, injuries and deaths to identify high-risk settings.  Beyond clinical data, the VPU integrates diverse sources such as data gathered via the Planet Youth Survey as well as evidence on linkages between alcohol use and interpersonal violence.  By synthesising these data streams, the unit equips decision-makers across multiple sectors with the evidence needed to tailor early intervention strategies.

The work of the Violence Prevention Unit is aligned to the WCG Provincial Strategic Plan and the Safety Plan and focusses on three key intervention areas:

1. Family Strengthening
2. Youth Agency and Empowerment
3. Substance and Alcohol Harms Reduction

In keeping with the Safety Plan, an area-based approach is followed in addressing the underlying causes of violence by addressing key risk factors and enhancing critical protective factors across the life-course.

Essentially, the Violence Prevention Unit serves as a coordinating and enabling structure.  Programme implementation is executed by partner stakeholders in accordance with their respective mandates.

Example:  In 2025 the VPU rolled out the Planet Youth Framework in the City of Cape Town, Garden Route District and West Coast District.  This process involved surveying close to 50 000 learners in Grades 8 and 9.  They survey collects data across key domains that influence a young person’s behaviour.  It helps communities better understand the specific risk and protective factors in young people's lives that increase the likelihood of substance use and violent behaviour (risk factors) and those that buffer against it (protective factors).  In order to successfully conduct the survey, the Departments of Education, Health & Wellness and Cultural Affairs & Sport worked in partnership to reach as many learners as possible.  The results of this survey is now being used to inform programme refinements across a range of government departments and NGOs.

Example: In the Overberg District, under the leadership of the VPU, a key strategic initiative includes the establishment of an Alcohol Harms Reduction Working Group within the Theewaterskloof Local Municipality.  This multi-agency platform brings together SAPS, law enforcement, traffic services, the Liquor Authority and municipal planning to enhance regulatory coordination, particularly in relation to liquor licensing and after-hours availability of alcohol.

(ii)

The work of the Violence Prevention Unit (VPU) is not primarily clinical in nature, nor does it take place within health facilities or rely solely on healthcare workers. Instead, the VPU operates as a community-based function, working to strengthen Whole-of-Government and Whole-of-Society connections at a local and provincial level.

The focus of the VPU is to intervene upstream through primary prevention efforts.  That means the work is largely centred around identifying and addressing the social, environmental, and relational drivers of violence before they escalate into physical harm.  This upstream approach reduces the likelihood that individuals will need to present at emergency departments or trauma units as a result of violence-related injury.

In short, the VPU's work is designed to keep the consequences of violence out of health facilities, not to manage them once they arrive.

3. (i)

It is difficult to quantify the reach of violence prevention interventions as they are integrated and incorporated into a range of programmes delivered by multiple stakeholders in accordance with their respective mandates.  These include family strengthening and parenting initiatives delivered by DSD and NGOs as well as programmes aimed at creating greater youth agency and youth empowerments. 

(ii) See c (i) above.

4. Areas that have been identified as high priority for violence prevention are:

Atlantis, Bishop Lavis, Delft, Gugulethu, Harare, Khayelithsa, Mitchell’s Plain, Mfuleni, Nyanga, Phillipi, Phillipi East, Samora Machel, Malmesbury, Grabouw, Thembalethu, Ceres and Beaufort West.

These areas are aligned to the areas that have been prioritised for Safety initiatives within the province, and they correspond to the SAPS Precincts with the highest rates of murder/homicide.

This data is further supported by trauma-related health data obtained via the HECTIS system and mortality data related to homicides obtained via Forensic Pathology Services.

5. (i) what partnerships has her Department established with other organisations to support violence prevention and (ii) what role does each partner play;

Major partners in the integrated violence prevention response include:

6. (i)

Primary Health Care (PHC) plays a central role in violence prevention through its active participation in Area-Based Teams (ABTs) and Community-Oriented Primary Care (COPC).  This work is strengthened through inter-departmental platforms such as the Mental Health Steering Committee which integrates trauma, violence, substance-related harms and service integration.  The primary healthcare platform also contributes by participating in Planet Youth initiatives.

In relation to substance harms, primary healthcare manages substance-induced psychosis cases and supports, in some areas, the strengthening of Local Drug Action Committee structures.  Primary healthcare’s role extends into community safety through support to safe spaces managed by NGOs, ensuring trauma-informed and psycho-social support.  PHC staff are also active in community engagement platforms, while COPC processes inform integrated planning. 

Example:  In the Mitchells Plain sub-structure, the Department of Health and Wellness co-leads the Mitchells Plain Safety and Development Forum and aligns primary healthcare work with the broader Whole-of-Society Approach.   

(ii)   

          Gender-Based Violence content covered in other courses:

• PACK Adult Update 2025: Sexual Assault Management
• Sexual and Reproductive Health: Intimate Partner Violence
• Community Health Workers (CHW):  Gender-based Violence and Key Populations

Webinars available to all staff in the PDC online resource library:

• Webinar 1:  Guidelines on reporting
• Webinar 2: Evidence collection
• Webinar 3: Guidelines on consent for forensic examination
• Webinar 4: Mandatory Reporting
• Webinar 5: Completion of the J88, Sexual Offences Clinical Proforma
• Webinar 6: Medical management, follow up referral letter and follow up protocol
• Webinar 7: An approach to paediatric examination in suspected child sexual abuse cases