Deputy Ministers in the Presidency, Ms Thembi Siweya (MP) and Communications & Digital Technologies, Ms Pinky Kekana (MP) will, on 21 August 2020, lead an online panel discussion on Gender-Based Violence (GBV).
The engagement, which is coordinated by MDDA in collaboration with Soul City Institute, SA Women in ICT Forum, Thato Molamu Foundation, Brand SA, NEMISA and SENTECH; will be moderated by the reigning Miss SA 2019, Sasha-Lee Oliver.
Held under the theme “Shifting social norms and beliefs about gender-based violence”, the panel discussion will explore how violence against women and girls is driven by gender attitudes, gender inequality and the acceptability of violence, and what appropriate interventions have the greatest potential to achieve change in these harmful beliefs and norms across communities.
The event will culminate in the unveiling of a GBV engagement platform prototype which will be fully developed by young coders and launched during the upcoming 16 Days of Activism for no violence against women and children. This platform, which will be built under the mentorship of Govchat and Geekulcha, extends the offering of Rainbow – the Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) Chatbot developed by Soul City Institute.
In his second virtual Presidential Imbizo on Wednesday, 15 July 2020, President Cyril Ramaphosa called for greater intolerance for GBV in South Africa amid continued femicide. The president said, “As a country, we find ourselves in the midst of not one, but two, devastating epidemics. Although very different in their nature and cause, they can both be overcome. It is with the heaviest of hearts that I stand before the women and girls of South Africa this evening to talk about another pandemic that is raging in our country – the killing of women and children by the men of our country.”
Members of the media are invited to attend the online panel discussion as follows:
Date: Friday, 21 August 2020
Time: 10h00 – 12h00
Platform: Online (Zoom webinar)
To confirm attendance and access the conference Zoom link, please contact Nthabeleng Mokitimi-Dlamini on nthabeleng@mdda.org.za or 073 222 5522.
Media enquiries for the Ministries:
Lawrence Ngoveni
Cell: 082 824 3060
E-mail: lawrence.ngoveni@dpme.gov.za
Zandile Ngubeni
Cell: 072 684 4272.
E-mail: zngubeni@dtps.gov.za
