GDSA Community Impact Report 2024: A Year of Service and Resilience

2024 was a hard year for many in our community. Home Affairs system failures, xenophobic incidents, and the daily pressures of economic migration made things difficult. But it was also a year of real results — people helped, cases won, and businesses started.

Here is what GDSA accomplished in 2024, thanks to our members, donors, volunteers, and partner organisations.

People Served

In 2024, GDSA directly assisted 847 African migrants across Gauteng. This includes:

• 312 individuals assisted with permit applications, renewals, and DHA queries
• 186 families supported during xenophobic threats and displacement incidents
• 204 workers referred to CCMA and Legal Aid for labour rights cases
• 98 community members enrolled in our entrepreneurship and skills development workshops
• 47 children supported in school enrolment disputes

Every number here is a real person who needed help, found GDSA, and was not turned away.

Legal Clinics

Our partnership with Lawyers for Human Rights enabled us to run 6 free legal clinics throughout the year. These clinics provided:

• Free legal advice sessions to 231 individuals
• Referrals for 38 asylum cases requiring urgent representation
• Support with 14 employment disputes escalated to formal litigation

The most common legal issues we encountered were: expired permits and overstay penalties, employer wage theft, housing disputes with landlords, and wrongful detention by law enforcement.

Rapid Response: Xenophobia Incidents

GDSA activated its rapid response network 11 times in 2024 following xenophobic threats or violence in Gauteng communities. In each incident, we:

1. Provided immediate communication to affected community members
2. Coordinated temporary safe accommodation where needed
3. Accompanied affected persons to police stations to file reports
4. Submitted formal complaints to the South African Human Rights Commission

We are deeply grateful to the faith communities and individual members who opened their homes and church halls during these incidents.

Entrepreneurship Programme

In partnership with the Small Enterprise Development Agency (SEDA), GDSA launched our first formal Migrant Entrepreneurship Programme in August 2024.

The programme ran for 8 weeks and covered: - Business registration and compliance for non-citizens - Access to finance and microfinancing options - Market access and informal-to-formal business transition - Digital marketing basics

98 participants completed the programme, and 34 have since registered businesses or expanded existing operations.

What Your Support Made Possible

None of this is possible without financial support. In 2024, GDSA's budget came from:

• Individual donations from the Ghanaian and broader African community in South Africa
• Corporate CSR contributions from Gauteng-based businesses
• In-kind support from partner organisations (office space, printing, transport)

Every rand donated to GDSA goes directly to programmes. Our governance structure as a registered NPC ensures transparency and accountability in all financial matters. Our Annual Financial Statements are prepared independently and available to donors on request.

Challenges We Faced

Honesty matters. 2024 was not without difficulty.

DHA system failures caused significant delays for hundreds of community members who arrived at Home Affairs with correct documents, only to be turned away due to system outages. We spent considerable resources on follow-up visits and appeals.

Funding constraints meant we could not reach all who needed help. We received more requests for legal support than our clinic capacity could absorb, and a waiting list formed for the entrepreneurship programme.

Staff capacity — GDSA is primarily volunteer-driven. Growing demand requires us to invest in paid staff, which requires sustainable funding.

Looking Ahead: 2025

In 2025, GDSA is focused on three priorities:

1. Expanding legal clinic capacity — Monthly clinics in partnership with additional legal organisations.
2. Launching a women's programme — Specific support for migrant women facing intersecting vulnerabilities.
3. Digital documentation support — Helping community members navigate the online DHA systems and VFS Global portals.

We are also building our digital presence, including this website, to reach more African migrants across South Africa.

Thank You

To every member who paid their subscription. To every donor who gave even R100. To every volunteer who gave their Saturday to staff a documentation clinic. To every partner organisation that answered our referral calls.

Thank you. The work continues.

Support GDSA's 2025 programmes. Donate today or become a member.