• Ms Thandi Nontenja

  • Once again, yesterday the nation saluted our foremothers of 1956, those courageous women who took the initiative and challenged the apartheid regime. We owe the freedom we claim to have today to those heroines.

 

  • What is missing today is that calibre of women, who held the knife on the sharp side. The year 2020 sadly marks a gloomy picture in this history as we contend with the daily escalation of Gender Based Violence in our country. Gender Based Violence and femicide have taken root and threaten the very fabric of our diverse communities. Reports in media state that with the Covid19 pandemic, the numbers in GBV have increased drastically worse. The question is; why are our male counterparts taking out their frustrations on women? Did the women bring Covid19 in this country?

 

  • Every parliamentary term, the ruling party appoints a Minister for women however the ministry of women seems to be voiceless. We don’t hear their inputs or condemnation of these heinous incidents. The ruling party prides itself on having a 50-50 representation of women in all their structures, including the Cabinet. Do these women have a voice or input on the formulation of policies and laws that govern this country and women in particular? It would seem the 50-50 represents 50% of spectators or rubber stampers.

 

  • The missing voice of faith-based institutions is a matter of concern especially when one considers the role of the churches during the liberation struggle. Are the faith-based condoning what is happening at the moment?

 

  • South Africa used to have formations like PWMSA and SAWID which were representative of various stakeholders. What happened to those formations? What is their role in the new dispensation?

 

  • GBV is rampant in South Africa; raping and killing young and old on a daily basis. A day before this year’s Women’s Day, a mother, a sister, an aunt, a grandmother, a daughter, a mentor, was buried in Sterkspruit after being brutally killed for being accused with witchcraft. This is not an isolated incident.

 

  • As a nation we have to commit to justice and gender transformation in all sectors of our society; we need to review our laws which seem to favour the perpetrators at the expense of the victims. South Africa needs to create an enabling environment for meaningful existence and equal opportunities for women.

 

  • A gender equal society is possible. We must draw strength from the spirit of the generation that marched to Pretoria. UDEMWO calls on all women in South Africa to walk in the footsteps of those women, in fighting the scourge of GBV. We must always remember that those women came from all walks of life; there were no political, religious, race divisions.

 

  • I would like to quote from Tata Mandela where he said “Freedom cannot be achieved unless the women have been emancipated from all forms of oppression.”