By Aurelie Kashama.
Footprints Foundation NPO and FootGolf South Africa unveil a 24 month, nine province campaign that uses walking events, CEO pledges, survivor storytelling, strategic partnerships and volunteer mobilisation to confront gender based violence at its developmental root.
Johannesburg — On 30 April 2026, Footprints Foundation NPO and FootGolf South Africa (FGSA) officially launched Walk Her Story at the Southern Sun Rosebank in Johannesburg — a campaign that goes beyond awareness raising to build a structured, evidence based, nationally deployed Sport for Development intervention against gender based violence in South Africa.
Unveiled at Southern Sun Rosebank, Walk Her Story is a 24-month, nine-province initiative designed to address GBV at its developmental root — focusing on prevention, healing, and youth empowerment rather than awareness alone
The launch brought together government, continental development bodies, corporate leaders, GBV survivors, youth performers and civil society organisations in a programme that embodied the campaign’s five pillars: Walk, Pledge, Story, Partner and Volunteer.
| “Walk Her Story is not a once off event. It is a 24 month commitment to be present in the lives of girls who are most at risk — through sport, through story, and through the kind of trusted adult presence that research consistently shows is the most powerful protective factor against GBV.”
— Eric Mlambo, Founder and Managing Director, Footprints Foundation NPO |
The Crisis That Demanded a Campaign
South Africa records among the highest rates of femicide, rape and intimate partner violence in the world. For girls in under resourced communities — urban and rural — gender based violence is not a distant risk. It is a daily reality embedded in family, school and community life. Its effects extend far beyond direct victims: girls who witness or experience GBV show measurably higher rates of school dropout, early pregnancy, substance abuse and social maladjustment.
Walk Her Story was built on the recognition that GBV is not simply a criminal justice problem. It is a developmental crisis — one that requires a developmental response. The campaign draws on a synthesised evidence base including the Comic Relief and University of Bath Sport for Development Research, the UNICEF Sport for Development and Peace Framework, and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, translated into an original Walk Her Story S4D Methodology developed by Footprints Foundation NPO and FGSA.
The Five Pillars
Walk Against GBV. Community walking events anchored by FootGolf sessions are being organised across all nine provinces. Each walk is a visible, public act of solidarity — turning physical movement into collective statement. FootGolf, an accessible and gender inclusive sport, provides the structured, safe, adult mentored environment that builds belonging, emotional regulation and resilience in participants.
CEO and Leadership Pledge. South African business and institutional leaders are invited to sign a formal, public pledge committing their organisations to zero tolerance for GBV and active support for girls’ safety and development. The pledge architecture — with formal certification, named public commitments and 24 month accountability — was designed to go beyond symbolic gesture. Lesedi Mapheto, CEO of Lesedi Group 7, led the inaugural pledge signing at the launch.
Survivor Storytelling. Walk Her Story uses storytelling as a therapeutic means — not as performance. Structured, trauma informed storytelling sessions give survivors the space to move from victim to witness to author of their own experience. GBV survivor Miss Burnt delivered a testimony at the launch that demonstrated what this looks like in practice: a public act of courage grounded in care, not spectacle.
Strategic Partnerships. The campaign is supported by the Department of Basic Education, AU-NEPAD — represented by Senior Advisor Linton Mchunu who addressed the launch on sexual and reproductive health — corporate civil society in South Africa, Southern Sun Rosebank as venue partner, Lesedi Group 7, Jorud Solution, Portale as digital identity and technology partner, and emerging rural civil society organisations in Greater Giyani and Mopani District, Limpopo.
Volunteer Mobilisation. Volunteers are not support staff in Walk Her Story — they are the campaign. Walk marshals, storytelling circle co-facilitators, youth ambassadors and provincial champions form a structured volunteer architecture that carries the campaign into every neighbourhood, school and village across nine provinces.
| “South Africa’s civil society plays a critical role in the daily lives of our communities. The work that Walk Her Story is doing — connecting sport, storytelling, leadership and grassroots partnerships — is exactly the kind of integrated response that GBV demands. We are committed to walking this journey together.”
— Linton Mchunu, Senior Advisor, AU-NEPAD |
FootGolf as the Sport for Development Vehicle
FootGolf South Africa (FGSA), the national governing body affiliated to the International Federation of FootGolf (FIFG) since 2022, is the sport infrastructure backbone of Walk Her Story. FGSA’s club network across Gauteng, North West, Limpopo and other provinces provides the established physical infrastructure through which the campaign’s S4D programme is delivered.
FGSA’s participation in the 2026 FIFG FootGolf World Cup in Acapulco, Mexico, and the inaugural FIFG Youth World Cup in Gahlenz, Germany — where Tshiamo Genevieve Moholo, the 2025 National Ladies Junior Champion, represents South Africa — carries the Walk Her Story brand to a global audience. FGSA is the only national sport governing body in South Africa formally integrated into a GBV prevention and girls empowerment campaign.
| “FGSA has always believed that sport is more than competition. Walk Her Story gives us the opportunity to prove it. Every FootGolf session, every walk, every pledge is part of a movement — and we are proud to be at its centre.”
— Norman Mphake, President, FootGolf South Africa |
A Campaign Rooted in Rural South Africa
One of the most distinctive features of Walk Her Story is its deliberate integration of emerging rural based civil society as programme partners. Footprints Foundation has operated in Greater Giyani, Mopani District, Limpopo for over two decades through its flagship AKGIS programme, reaching 50,000 girls annually across 400 schools in seven provinces. That presence — the trust, the relationships, the knowledge of the terrain — is what makes a nine province, 24 month rollout credible.
Community organisations, women farmer networks and the Mopani Farmer Association, with its 2,500 members, are formally adopted as Walk Her Story provincial partners. Rural civil society is not the audience for this campaign. It is its backbone.
Digital Identity and Technology
Portale (portale.co.za), the campaign’s digital identity and technology partner, provides Walk Her Story with an NFC keychain media hub — a physical keychain programmed with a tap to access link that gives journalists, partners and stakeholders live, updatable access to all Walk Her Story content. Media representatives at the launch received a branded Walk Her Story keychain, ensuring the campaign’s press resources remain accessible and current across the full 24 month rollout.