Since 2019, SPAR South Africa has been dedicated to making a real difference in Ending Gender Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF). Their emphasis is on finding practical solutions to make a difference in the lives of those who need it, when they need it the most. In September 2024, SPAR South Africa became a member of the Private Sector Coalition Against Gender-Based Violence and Harassment (PSC).

The PSC provides a collaborative platform for companies to tackle gender inequality and workplace violence by helping businesses develop standards and best practices to prevent and address GBVF and adopt a three-step framework focusing on prevention, protection, and enforcement, in support of creating safer workplaces.

Diverse initiatives

SPAR South Africa is addressing Gender Based Violence (GBV) by finding practical solutions through ongoing initiatives. This is happening in many ways: support for LifeLine; contributing food and care packs to Thuthuzela Care Centres and building a new Thuthuzela Care Centre (TCC) in rural KwaZulu-Natal; working with Trulife to promote education on GBV; launching the Uyinene alarm app at campuses; incorporating relevant GBV victim information on SPAR shopping bags ensuring a wide audience has access to the details; creating a GBV URL; and collaborating with other companies on other initiatives.

The Thuthuzela Care Centres are holistic support centres headed by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and currently there are only 65 nationwide. Cases taken to court through the TCCs have a massive 77.8% conviction rate, compared to the national average of about 3%. Both the LifeLine and the NPA initiatives aim to help people with the abuse they are currently experiencing or have experienced. SPAR South Africa also works with Trulife, which sends young adults to schools to teach learners of various ages about gender equality and gender-based violence.

Workplace focus

Within the company, an initiative was recently launched at the head office to allow people who have suffered GBV or domestic violence a confidential space to share what they are going through and hopefully be able to feel that they are supported by their colleagues. Training and ongoing awareness of GBV through this recent initiative aligns SPAR South Africa with the PSC as a member.

Source: SPAR South Africa

Read more about SPAR South Africa.

About SPAR South Africa

SPAR South Africa was established in 1963. It operates four retail formats: SPAR neighbourhood supermarkets, SPAR Express forecourt stores, KWIKSPAR convenience focused stores and SUPERSPAR Supermarkets.  SPAR South Africa grants sub-licences to independent retailers to operate stores under one of the four formats, with almost all the current store portfolio being independently owned.