‘Driving Change in South Africa’ is a powerful 9-minute short film featuring Lebogang Seketema, one of eight drivers working in an MSF project in Rustenburg, the heart of South Africa’s Platinum Mining Belt which treats survivors of sexual and gender-based violence in a network of MSF-supported clinics.

Lebo knows first-hand the suffering and pain caused by sexual violence and it has changed his life. Each day, he collects survivors and transports them to the nearest clinic for mental, physical care and social support in MSF-supported clinics, often returning them home again.

The majority of survivors collected by the drivers are women. As they are often the first person a survivor meets following an incident, MSF’s all-male drivers have received psychological first aid training in how to support survivors from the start. Lebo shares his experience in supporting ‘clients’ and gives insights into his life growing up with violence and poverty in this mining region. Survivor Poppy shares her experience of interacting with MSF’s drivers, who made a difference in her treatment journey.

In 2015, an MSF survey in Rustenburg Municipality showed that one in four women had experienced rape in their lifetime, yet only 95% of women had ever reported their incident to a healthcare worker. While South Africa has some of the world’s highest rates of rape and femicide, access to immediate medical and psychological care for survivors remains limited, while the stigma surrounding sexual violence in communities means few survivors report the incident, let alone seek care.

ABOUT MSF'S DRIVERS

Each day, MSF’s team of drivers rotate to collect and transport survivors of sexual violence – or clients as they are referred to - for emergency medical and psychological care and social support in one of four ‘Kgomotso Care Centers’ (KCC) supported by MSF across the area’s largely informal settlements, often returning them home again.
MSF’s drivers are much more than ‘just drivers’. As first responders, they are often the first person a survivor meets following an incident. Their role in the survivor’s journey of care is seen as a vital part of the approach MSF is developing that ensures humane, non-intrusive and supportive care for survivors from the start.

Most have received psychological first aid training on how to engage survivors with compassion while avoiding any secondary trauma. The principles of psychological first aid, which offers first-line support to anyone facing a crisis, entails assessing the immediate situation, building trust and rapport with clients, and helping to link them safely with the next stage of care.

For MSF’s drivers, working with MSF and meeting survivors has made them keenly aware of their role as men, where the vast majority of sexual abuse across South Africa is caused by male perpetrators. Beyond their day job, through socializing with friends, each man is working to change other men’s mindsets and driving change in their communities.


ABOUT MSF’S RESPONSE TO SEXUAL VIOLENCE IN SOUTH AFRICA

Since 2015, MSF has been working with the North West health department to expand access to free, high quality and confidential care for survivors of sexual and gender-based violence in Rustenburg’s Bojanala district through four dedicated clinics, known as Kgomotso Care Centres. MSF teams, including forensic nurses, psychologists, registered counselors, social workers and social auxiliary workers and support staff including drivers provide clients with an essential package of free emergency and follow-up care. An increasing number of survivors are being referred from MSF’s community-based initiatives in Rustenburg’s Freedom Park and Sondela areas. This includes a schools health program that educates learners about sexual health and gender-based violence. The program has reached 25 500 learners across 20 schools in the district since early 2018. From 2017 to 2019, the four MSF-supported Kgomotso Care Centres (KCCs) in Rustenburg provided care for 3007 clients. In South Africa, MSF is calling for all survivors of sexual violence to have immediate access to complete medical, psychological care and social support.

FOR MORE INFORMATION see MSF’s Untreated Violence report series from Rustenburg:
• UNTREATED VIOLENCE: The Need for patient-centred care for survivors of sexual violence on the Platinum Mining Belt (2016) https://www.msf.org.za/about-us/publications/reports/untreated-violence
• UNTREATED VIOLENCE: Critical gaps in medical and clinical forensic care for survivors of sexual violence in South Africa (2017) https://www.msf.org.za/about-us/publications/reports/untreated-violence-critical-gaps-treating-sexual-violence-survivors
• UNTREATED VIOLENCE: Critical gaps in mental health care for survivors of sexual violence in South Africa (2018) https://www.msf.org.za/about-us/publications/reports/untreated-violence-3-critical-gaps-mental-health-care-survivors-sexual