100-day-challenge

A divorce file looks like paperwork until you open it. Inside, there is usually far more, the safety of a woman who wants out, the future of children, and a dispute over the assets that will decide whether she can start again. At Thabazimbi Regional Court, the team set an ambitious goal against exactly this kind of complexity, reducing a backlog of 97 divorce matters by 90% in 100 days.

Sexual offence cases are among the hardest a court will handle. Where DNA evidence is involved, the investigation has to run its full course before a trial can start, and every week of that wait is a week a survivor spends living with an open case. Knowing all of this the team at Lephalale Regional Court still set a goal that many would have called unrealistic, cutting a backlog of 33 sexual offence matters by 90% in 100 days.

Since starting on 25 May they have finalised seven, up from six in late July.

Through its Ending GBVF 100-Day Challenge, the Free State Department of Sport, Arts and Culture is exploring how libraries can become community spaces where people access information about gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF).

On 9 August 1956, 20 000 women climbed the steps of the Union Buildings carrying more than 100 000 signatures. They had travelled from cities, towns, reserves and villages, and they arrived in groups of twos and threes because large gatherings were banned. Seventy years later, the demand they made has changed shape rather than been met.

Forty-four sexual offence cases at Seshego Regional Court had been sitting on the roll for more than two years. Every one of those files represents a survivor waiting for an outcome, with the case remaining open across two full calendar years and, in many instances, longer.

Polokwane Regional Court carries pressure on two separate rolls. On 25 May 2026 the divorce backlog stood at 3,445 matters. On the sexual offences roll, 72 cases sat in backlog, each one holding a survivor in the system while the matter moves between the state case, defence, judgment and sentencing.

Fifty widows and widowers. That is the number the Rand West City Local Municipality team set for Grief Nest, one of two 100-Day Challenges the municipality launched after its Start-up Workshop on 16 July 2026

The Mafikeng team is working with the North West Department of Basic Education to strengthen reporting systems in 10 schools during the 100-Day Challenge. The goal responds to concerns about learner pregnancies linked to statutory rape, as well as other forms of abuse that are not consistently reported because educators are uncertain about the correct procedures.

A defining feature of the 100-Day Challenge is that teams are encouraged to narrow their focus. Lasting progress is difficult when resources and attention are spread too widely. Instead, teams identify one area where concentrated effort can produce measurable results within 100 days.

For Dr Beyers Naudé Municipality, that focus is young people.

How do we measure a strong referral pathway? A referral pathway can be measured through the experience of the people seeking support. The relevant organisation needs to be able to connect the survivor, family or child with the appropriate support. Each of these steps play an important part in whether someone receives the help they need.