TEARS Foundation, in partnership with the Soul City Institute for Social Justice, is proud to announce the launch of the Bang Your Pot® campaign during the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence (GBV). This collaboration brings together two leading organisations in the fight against GBV in South Africa, combining TEARS Foundation’s survivor-focused response with Soul City’s strong legacy of feminist advocacy and social mobilisation.
The Soul City Institute for Social Justice is a renowned feminist organisation that has spent three decades using media, advocacy, and community engagement to advance gender equality and social justice across South Africa. Through powerful storytelling and national awareness campaigns, Soul City has amplified women’s voices, influenced policy, and encouraged communities to challenge harmful gender norms.
“Bang Your Pots” campaign featured in the Matlakala storyline in Soul City Series 4. In the drama, whenever neighbours heard a man abusing his wife, they responded by banging pots and pans, a collective act that exposed the violence, condemned the abuser and signalled that such behaviour would not be tolerated. What began as a fictional act of community solidarity and resistance soon spread across South Africa, as audiences adopted the gesture in real life to protest gender-based violence.
Bang Your Pot® draws inspiration from South Africa’s history of resistance, when the sound of banging pots was a bold cry for justice. Reviving this act of unity, the campaign calls on South Africans to make noise for those who cannot, to stand up against silence, and to demand that gender-based violence is no longer tolerated or normalised.
Bang Your Pot® is more than just a campaign, it’s a call to action,” says Mara Glennie, CEO and Founder of the TEARS Foundation. “For too long, survivors have suffered in silence. By banging our pots, we are standing up in unity and sounding the alarm, demanding that gender-based violence no longer be ignored or tolerated. We ALL have a part to play in ending the scourge of gender-based violence that plagues our land.
South Africa continues to record one of the highest rates of GBV in the world, with domestic violence estimated to be five times higher than the global average. TEARS Foundation provides daily crisis intervention, counselling, and referral services to survivors, while Soul City drives education, advocacy, and social change. Together, these organisations are bridging awareness with tangible action, creating a movement that unites individuals, communities, and institutions in a single purpose: to end GBV.
The campaign will be promoted with a powerful song performed by South African music legend PJ Powers in collaboration with SA Idols season 9 finalist Zoe Zana, using strategies like social media, influencer marketing, playlist placements, and collaborations platforms to build awareness and reach a wider audience.
How you can participate
Now, TEARS Foundation and Soul City are calling on every South African to participate. Take part by banging your pot at home, at work, or in your community. Record and share your videos or photos on social media using the hashtags #BangYourPotAgainstGBV #TEARS Foundation, #SoulCity. Tag your friends, families, schools, and colleagues, and encourage them to do the same.
Each sound, each action, and each post represents a voice that refuses to be silenced. Together, we can flood social media with a national chorus of resistance and hope.
To find out more about Bang Your Pot® and how you or your organisation can join the movement, please contact TEARS Foundation.
About TEARS Foundation
Established in 2012, TEARS Foundation is an organisation providing access to crisis intervention, advocacy, counselling, and prevention education services to those impacted by domestic violence, sexual assault, and child sexual abuse.
Confidential services are provided to victims at no charge and are available to all.
Since 2012 TEARS Foundation received more than three-quarters of a million (750,000) calls from victims and survivors of Gender Based Violence, Sexual Assault and Abuse, all using our USSD platform.
For the period 1st March 2024 to February 2025, TEARS Foundation had 75,245 interactions with victims on all its available platforms, including USSD, telephone, SMS, website, and social media. This equates to assisting approximately 6,250 people per month with information and access to vital services.
Their vital services include
- Individual counselling
- Individual, group and couples counselling
- Support groups
- Volunteer opportunities
- We link victims to emergency shelters
- We refer victims to medical facilities for medical attention for access to:
- Antiretrovirals (ARVs) treatment
- The morning-after pill to avoid unwanted pregnancy
- Antibiotics for possible Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs)
- Blood tests
- Internal medical examinations
- A J88 for court purposes
- We follow up with the police on behalf of victims who have case numbers
- We give them advice on how to apply for a protection order
- We refer child victims to child-friendly facilities
- We guide women and men on how to leave abusive relationships
Contact the free, 24/7 helpline number by dialling *134*7355# or toll-free 08000 83277.
Social media links
Keep up to date with TEARS Foundation via the following social media platforms:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tears_foundation/?hl=en
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TearsFoundationSA
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tears_foundation
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/tears-foundation
Twitter: https://twitter.com/tears_sa?lang=en
Email: az.oc.sraet@aram
Phone: +27 (0) 82 448 9324
Alternatively, send an email to az.oc.sraet@ofni
About Soul City
Soul City Institute for Social Justice is an intersectional feminist organisation, working to ensure that girls, young women and gender minorities enjoy substantive equality, with access to resources and opportunities that enable them to live fulfilling lives. The Soul City Institute is guided by the South African Constitution, with a focus on parts such as Section 27 that outline that everyone has the right to have access to healthcare services, including reproductive healthcare. We work tirelessly to make these and other rights such as the right to freedom, dignity and equality a reality for all, particularly for those who find themselves on the margins of oppression. We promote, support and amplify girls, young women and gender minorities’ feminist consciousness, voice, agency and activism. Our vision is for a just society where girls, young women and gender minorities live with dignity, exercise self-determination and have the health and wellbeing to achieve their fullest potential.
Social media links
Keep up to date with Soul City Institute via the following social media platforms:
Instagram: https://www.facebook.com/SoulCitySA
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SoulCitySA
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@soulcitysa
LinkedIn: https://za.linkedin.com/company/soul-city-za
Twitter: https://x.com/SoulCity_SA
Email: az.gro.yticluos@ohstnop
Phone: +27 (0) 76 142 5612
