Angry marchers heckle parliamentary official
GENDER activists and members of the LGBTIQ+ community who participated in yesterday’s #TotalShutdown march heckled Parliament’s Sergeant at Arms, Rigina Mohlomi, and refused to let her speak.
This after she told them at the gates of Parliament at the end of their march from Keizersgracht Street in District Six that she was accepting their memorandum on behalf of the Speaker, Baleka Mbete. Mbete was expected to accept the memorandum but didn’t pitch.
“I am an official from Parliament. I have been requested to come and do this today.
“I am not a politician, and therefore if I am sent and receive this memorandum on behalf of the Speaker, that is what I am supposed to do,” Mohlomi said.
Demonstrators chanted: “We want the Speaker,” while others accused the government of not caring about the safety of women in the country.
Hundreds participated in the march, taking to the streets from the early hours.
“This march is significant because South Africa is a country with high femicide rates, high rates of cases where women and children and gender non-conforming people are at the receiving end,” said organiser Misa Makwakwa Masokameng.
Among the demonstrators was DA MP Phumzile van Damme. “We want to take what has been said here to Parliament to speak loudly about women’s issues that are always in the back seat,” she said.
Van Damme has had her own experience of being mocked by men in Parliament. In 2017, ANC MP Mervyn Dirks called her a “straatmeid” (street maid).
Van Damme said: “I have been mocked and called names, but all it does is it strengthens my resolve and pushes me to fight for the people of this country.”
Members of the LGBTIQ+ community called on government to do more to protect them. “I don’t feel safe in our streets as a queer male. I need to stand my ground along with other women here who don’t feel safe,” Ricky Girnun said.
Similar marches took place in Pretoria and Durban and in neighbouring countries. The organisation is demanding that Parliament form a special unit to deal with gender-based violence. –
AS WOMEN’S Day is drawing nearer, women of all spheres of life need to realise their worth.
Women do not have to be abused. Whether it is mentally, physically or psychologically. Women should know it and empower themselves.
Women deserve and need to be treated with the utmost respect, dignity and love. They should not allow someone else’s actions to dictate their reactions to any given situation. After all, they are part of God’s beautiful design.
Self-worth and self-acceptance are only two factors which will enable us to get to the point where we can realise how strong we truly are.
And you, woman, were created for much greater things.
For some of us it seems right to die a little bit every time in order to live for or find ourselves again. And the end result will be phenomenal: like the girls and women we are meant to be.
If you truly want to become the best version of yourself, you have to exude the confidence that only a woman who knows her worth would have.
You have it within yourself to step up and step out.
Let us, sisters, do it for ourselves!