Black Sash

The Black Sash is one of South Africa's oldest and most respected human rights organisations, established in 1955 when a group of women took to the streets in protest against the erosion of constitutional rights under apartheid. For over 70 years, they have been a steadfast voice for the poor, the marginalised, and those whose rights are being ignored or violated.

Today, Black Sash focuses primarily on social protection and economic rights — advocating for and helping individuals access the social grants, documentation, and government services they are legally entitled to. While they are not a GBV crisis service, they are deeply relevant to survivors whose experience of abuse has also left them facing poverty, loss of income, loss of documentation, or disconnection from the social support systems they depend on.

Their paralegal and advice services have helped secure more than R29 million in social grants and financial provisions that were owed to vulnerable people across South Africa.

What They Offer Survivors

Free Paralegal Advice and Helpline Black Sash runs a free national helpline (072 663 3739) and operates advice offices staffed by paralegals, lawyers, social workers, and community advisors. If you have been denied a social grant you are entitled to, if your grant has been stopped or deducted without your knowledge, if you are struggling to access any government service — Black Sash can help you understand your rights and take action.

Social Grant Assistance Many survivors of GBV are financially dependent on their abuser and may find themselves without income after leaving. Black Sash helps people navigate the SASSA system, apply for Child Support Grants, Disability Grants, Older Persons Grants, and the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant — and they fight back when these grants are unlawfully withheld or deducted.

Identity Document and Grant Fraud Support One of the most harmful forms of financial abuse is when someone else controls or illegally deducts from a survivor's grant. Black Sash actively campaigns against reckless lending against social grants and can help you reclaim financial control.

Rights Education Black Sash produces plain-language resources and runs workshops to help everyday people understand their constitutional and social rights — available in multiple languages including Zulu, Xhosa, Afrikaans, Sesotho, Setswana, Tsonga, Tshivenda, Somali, and French.

Community-Based Monitoring Black Sash trains and supports community monitors across South Africa to hold government service delivery accountable — including services at SASSA pay points, clinics, and Home Affairs offices that affect survivors' ability to access support.

Advocacy for a Basic Income Black Sash is a leading voice in the campaign for a universal Basic Income Support for all adults between 18 and 59 — one of the most significant economic rights campaigns affecting women survivors, who are disproportionately represented among the unemployed and economically excluded.

If you are struggling to access social grants, have had your grant deducted or stopped, or need to understand your legal and financial rights, call the Black Sash helpline: 072 663 3739.