Minister urges creative sector to rewrite the narrative on gender-based violence as Africa targets global market growth

The creative sector must play a leading role in eradicating the scourge of Gender-Based Violence (GBV) by intentionally producing content that refuses to glorify misogyny and instead reflects the society South Africa aspires to become.

This was the urgent call to action from Stella Tembisa Ndabeni, Minister of Small Businesses Development, speaking at the Creative Universe 2025 summit, co-hosted by Henley Business School and the Leaders in Motion Academy (LiMA) on the weekend.

Addressing delegates during the 16 Days of Activism against No Violence against Women and Children campaign, and shortly after gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF) was declared a national disaster, the Minister emphasised the moral weight resting on the shoulders of the country's storytellers.

‘We must join hands in ensuring our creative spaces and screens dominate the narrative with stories that do not glorify violence, degradation, misogyny, or desperation. If we fail, we risk normalising the very social fractures we are working tirelessly to heal,’ said the Minister. ‘When you tell a story, it is because you want someone to learn – but to what cause?’

Addressing the critical paradox facing Africa’s creative industries

The Creative Universe 2025, now in its second year, brought together policymakers, business practitioners, and academics to address the critical paradox facing Africa’s creative industries: while the continent is one of the largest consumers of creative content globally, it owns only a fraction of the production in this $3 trillion global industry. This year’s theme was: Scaling creativity, exporting Africa’s imagination to the world.

Creative Universe host and founder of LiMA, Thato Moraka, said that it’s vital to find ways to ‘normalise access’ to the sector and create opportunities for more Africans to tell their own stories and create – and own – their own content. ‘This is how we can build sustainable businesses and claim our space in this burgeoning global industry. And it starts with making sure that creatives have the right skills to navigate this complex terrain.’

To date, LiMA has invested over R24 million into skills development and has trained more than 500 young creatives from across South Africa with the skills to build scalable, commercially viable creative enterprises.

Bridging the gap between talent and trade

Elena Beleska-Spasova, Global Dean of Henley Business School, emphasised that institutions like Henley and LiMA can play a catalytic role in unlocking the creative sector’s potential by building the business models and ecosystems required to nurture talent and protect IP. But they must go further and address the economic obstacles preventing African creatives from claiming their "right to play" on the global stage.

‘Across continents, creativity has become the world’s most dynamic economic resource. It fuels entrepreneurs, generates jobs, and shapes a nation's global identity. And Africa has something unique that cannot be replicated anywhere else,” Beleska-Spasova said.

However, she warned that talent alone is insufficient. ‘Despite extraordinary talent in Africa, there remain practical barriers: limited access to global distribution pipelines, infrastructure constraints, skills mismatches, and challenges in capitalising on intellectual property.’

A shared responsibility

This is a challenge that requires strong partnerships to foster investment and build the kinds of ecosystems that enable creators to thrive, concluded Beleska-Spasova. ‘Nothing meaningful is ever built alone.’

‘To our policymakers, I say, your role remains pivotal; this sector cannot scale without enabling regulation and infrastructure. To our industry partners and investors, your engagement is essential; the commercial opportunity is real and growing. And to our creators, your imagination is the foundation upon which this hall stands. You bring meaning, culture, identity, and narrative to everything we aspire to build.’

Minister Ndabeni agreed, ending her address with a plea for greater sector participation in shaping policy, specifically regarding the design of a Creative Sector Fund.

‘Help us to help you be the best that you can be. Help us design it,’ she urged. ‘This is how we grow people from local talent to global export. From imagination to industry.

‘A nation that retains its narrative, invests in its creators and scales its imagination beyond its borders does not only preserve its culture, it exports its future to the world.’

LiMA and Henley Business School will come together again to screen 16 Short Films on GBVF at the CineCentre Killarney Mall on 9 December. The 16 Short Film Makers Project (SFMP) was launched by LiMA in 2019 and produces a powerful annual anthology of 16 short films focusing on key social and environmental issues to raise awareness to support the national agenda.