Siyabonga - Huis van Danksegging
Siyabonga – Huis van Danksegging is a Vredenburg-based NPO on the West Coast founded in 2005, operating a dedicated shelter for abused women and their children (up to 20 residents, 3-month stays), a Child and Youth Care Centre, disability residential care, and a community feeding scheme. DSD-funded under the WC Victim Empowerment Programme, the Siyabonga Shelter is a critical and rare place of safety on a coastline with very few GBV-specific shelters.
Contact & Location
- Chrisna du Plessis
- Klein Plasie, Vredenburg, Western Cape, 7380
Opening Hours
This organisation operates 24 hours.
About
About Siyabonga – Huis van Danksegging
Siyabonga (meaning "we are grateful/thankful" in isiZulu/isiXhosa) is a registered NPO founded in 2005 in Vredenburg, the largest town in the Saldanha Bay Local Municipality on the Western Cape's West Coast. The organisation has grown into a multi-service community welfare organisation built on four pillars: women and children's safety; disability care; early childhood development; and community nutrition — serving some of the most vulnerable residents of the broader West Coast area.
Siyabonga employs 130 permanent staff, accommodates 110 clients in 24-hour residential care facilities, and provides 25,110 meals monthly. It is a DSD-funded partner in the Western Cape VEP, receiving R141,000 in targeted VEP funding in the 2022/23 financial year. It is also listed in the national DSD shelters database with a bed capacity of 20 for abused women.
Siyabonga Shelter for Abused Women
The Siyabonga Shelter for Abused Women is the organisation's GBV-specific programme. The shelter:
- Accommodates women and their children in safety for up to 3 months.
- Operates in partnership with the Department of Social Development, following government norms and standards for victim empowerment shelters.
- Provides individual and group counselling sessions with individual development plans for each resident.
- Assists residents with protection orders and restraining orders, accompanying them through the legal process.
- Arranges medical visits and other health-related support.
- Facilitates referrals to specialist services through professional staff and networking partners.
Other Programmes
Child and Youth Care Centre (CYCC) — residential and day care for vulnerable children, including those removed from unsafe environments due to abuse, neglect, or family breakdown.
Disability Programme — residential care, day care, and a protective workshop for persons with disabilities. This includes the West Coast Disability Forum, which advocates for disability rights in the Saldanha Bay and Bergrivier municipal areas.
Community Nutrition — a large-scale feeding operation providing 25,110 meals monthly to disadvantaged community members, funded through Woolworths, other corporate partners, and DSD.
Unique West Coast Significance
Vredenburg and the Saldanha Bay area are home to a large working-class population employed in fishing, agriculture, and the Saldanha Steel (now Arcelor Mittal) industry. This community has historically limited access to GBV services — with Cape Town being the nearest major city (approximately 165km away). Siyabonga's shelter fills a critical geographic gap for the entire West Coast coastal strip.
Location
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