Life Savers Foundation

Life Savers Foundation — NPO 073-031 / SAPS Makuya Building, Rooms G1 & G2, Makuya 0973, Thulamela Municipality, Vhembe District, Limpopo — is a grassroots, community-founded NPO established in January 2008 (formally registered November 2009) specifically to confront the exceptionally high rates of GBV and sexual violence in the deeply rural Makuya/Hamakuya area, close to the Zimbabwe and Mozambique borders. The organisation was founded by unemployed women, men, and youth from the community itself — people who saw the problem clearly and decided to act. Makuya is characterised by extreme poverty, very low literacy, severe lack of access to justice and health services, unemployment, and cultural and social norms that normalise violence — a combination that creates acute GBV risk and near-total isolation for survivors. Life Savers Foundation works to crack this silence open: through community-wide GBV awareness and human rights campaigns that help people recognise abuse and know their rights; victim support that assesses exposure to secondary victimisation and connects survivors to appropriate services; court preparation support for survivors navigating criminal cases and protection orders; emergency accommodation for abuse survivors; and support for HIV-positive persons, people with disabilities, children, and youth caught in the cycle of GBV. Crucially, the organisation also provides rehabilitation and community reintegration support for perpetrators — understanding that sustainable safety in a small rural community requires transformation, not just removal. Its beneficiaries are explicit: women, children, men, youth, people living with HIV and disabilities — everyone. Life Savers Foundation is listed on SaferSpaces, the PILS Public Interest Legal Services Directory, and has received support from the National Development Agency (NDA) and Gender Links's Voice and Choice Southern Africa Fund. SAPS Makuya is located at the same building. For GBV crisis: 0800 428 428 (toll-free, 24/7)