Remarks by the Minister of the Department of Women, Children and people with Disabilities, Lulu Xingwana, during the Men’s rally event, Johannesburg Stadium

Program Director,
Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe,
Minister of correctional Services, Sbu Ndebele,
Deputy Minister of Justice, Mr Nel,
SANAC Men Sector,
SANAC Women Sector,
Brothers for Life,
John Hopkins,
Civil Society Organisations,
Fellow South Africans.

Allow me the opportunity to first thank the real men of South Africa for taking time to pay tribute to the efforts of the Women of South Africa during Women’s month. It is indeed an honour for us women to witness this august occasion organised by men for men about the plight of women and children.

It is a humbling experience because for a long time women have been the face of matters on HIV/AIDS and Violence against Women and Children. Women and children have always on their own participated in during awareness campaigns, leading marches on gender based violence (GBV) as victims, survivors or supporters of the affected.

For a long time, too, men were portrayed as perpetrators of violence against women and children and therefore seen as monsters than protectors and providers. As a society, we had lost hope that we have real men in our society who uphold the rights of Women, children and people with disabilities.

Indeed, this day will go down in history as it marks the dawn of a new era that we do have men who care and are united against gender based violence. Initiatives such as community dialogues and the 1000 men march organised in Plettenberg Bay, in  June 2013 with the purpose of highlighting GBV and the spread of HIV in communities are but some of the work done by the men’s sector.

Men and boys also experience gender-based violence. We therefore encourage men to break the silence and report these crimes. Regardless of the target, gender-based violence is characterised by the use and abuse of physical, emotional, or financial power and control. According to the 2012 South African Police Service statistics, 64 514 sexual offences occurred between April 2011 and March 2012, meaning a staggering 176 cases per day.

We welcome this initiative as one of the many that the men’s sector have initiated to fight the scourge against Gender based Violence.  This scourge requires us as society, men, women, government and civil society together through coordinated concerted efforts to maximally put together resources to support programs to curb this scourge that has become a disease in our society.

We therefore thank the South African National AIDS Council (SANAC) and Brothers for Life for organising this Men’s rally for the 24th of August. The rally aims to unite all South African men behind a single pledge against the driving forces of violence against women, children, the disabled, and the gays and lesbians (LGBTI) community. One of the key perpetuators of violence is the abuse of alcohol and drug related substances.

We jointly should fight the use of drugs such as tik, nyaope, mandrax, and so forth, that are causing instability amongst our youth in our communities. It is time to reclaim our communities and instil the culture of ubuntu amongst our youth.

The rally is the first of many steps toward curbing the spread of this epidemic, and encourages men to commit their names to the Brothers For Life pledge entitled “Not In My Name”. Community dialogues with men around the country have served as valuable input for informing the development of the Not In My Name campaign.

The rally also serves to mobilise men in taking the lead in changing negative social norms perpetuated in the name of culture and religion. In addition, the rally hopes to inspire men to adopt positive health behaviours such as regular HIV testing and safe sex practices, as well going for scheduled health check -ups that include screening for diabetes and high blood.

We have established the National Council Against Gender Based Violence, a structure representative of government and civil society organisations created to coordinate all efforts in the implementation of 365 Days National Plan of Action. This will ensure a concerted approach to end gender based violence with measurable targets and indicators to which all South Africans can contribute. We should all work together to Prevent, Respond, Support and educate our society.

Indeed, Men do matter. No woman, No child, No homophobia, No alcohol abuse, in the name of men for change today.

I thank you!

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