City’s rich and poor join hands to walk and talk
FROM the most affluent suburbs of Cape Town to those with no place to call their own, hundreds of people from all walks of life joined hands and walked through the streets of the city together yesterday in celebration of Women’s Day.
The Artscape Theatre hosted the “Women’s Humanity Walk”, which started at the District Six Homecoming Centre and ended on the steps of the theatre.
The walk provided a platform for people to exchange stories, speak out about abuse and pray for one another.
It ended the four-day Women’s Humanity Arts Festival, started on Thursday.
About 300 people, mainly women, participated in the walk, and a warm, clearly welcome meal, was offered to them afterwards.
Many who did not know where their next meal would come from savoured the food while sitting on the steps.
Aaisha Walters, a neighbourhood watch member from Delft, together with four of her friends, brought four little girls from Blikkiesdorp to participate in the walk.
The parents of the girls have neglected their children.
Walters said when she was a child, she suffered abuse at the hands of someone she knew and trusted.
She said the walk was important for the girls to have attended, as she would not allow them to be hurt the way she was.
“When I was a child, I did not know my rights.
“But I have brought the girls here today because it is impor- tant that they learn about platforms that encourage them to stand up for their rights,” Walters said.
Artscape director Marlene le Roux said the walk also provided a platform to encourage constructive debate about issues plaguing society.
“Here the opportunity is created for you if you need to talk to someone from a different background, religion or area. A walk allows for people to sing together, to talk to one another, and to listen,” Le Roux said.
The theatre also celebrated Women’s Month by showcasing the theatrical work of women in the arts and culture industry.
Actress Denise Newman performed Cold Case: Revisit- ing Dulcie September, which is about the life of ANC activist Dulcie September, who was assassinated in 1988 in Paris.
Actress Elsabe Danee performed Bittersoet, which follows five different women, juggling the curveballs life has to throw at them. Henrietta, With Love, written by Peter Voges and directed by Sandra Temmingh made its debut at the festival. Artscape partnered with a number of organisations, including the Black Sash, which is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year.
Mary Burton, long-time Black Sash member, launched her book, The Black Sash – Women for Justice and Peace.
francesca.villette@inl.co.za
An opportunity allowing people to sing, talk to one another, and to listen
NATIONAL Women’s Day celebrations not only commemorate the day in 1956 that 50 000 women staged a march to the Union Buildings in Pretoria, they also present an opportunity to honour their roles in society in general.
We would like to challenge women countrywide to take a stand again, but this time against the debt crisis faced by many South Africans across all walks of life. Recent statistics tell us that of the 21 million South Africans that are in debt, 10 million are in arrears. A large portion of those in arrears are women.
A closer look at the DebtBusters client profile shows that many women in South Africa are struggling to pay their bills each month and have had to incur more and more debt to support their families. The sad reality is that women already drowning in debt need to take a deep breath and prepare themselves for a tougher road ahead.
They must urgently find ways of cutting back on expenses (for the long term) so that they are not forced into opening other lines of credit to pay back loans that they already have.
Women countrywide will already be feeling the pressure after the announcement from the SA Reserve Bank (SARB) that it is hiking rates by 25 basis points. By now, commercial banks and other lenders have increased their lending rates, meaning that women with multiple loan accounts such as overdrafts, clothing accounts, vehicle finance and credit cards will already be feeling the impact of these rate increases on their monthly instalments.
With little time for adjustments to their household budgets to accommodate these extra costs, it is expected that many more will go into arrears on their accounts this month. In addition to this, there will be a knock-on effect of increased rentals, food and other everyday goods and essentials, putting further pressure on household cash. A typical DebtBusters client has four personal loans, two store (retail) cards and two credit cards and/or overdraft facilities. This type of scenario is too much debt. Women with this much credit are likely to be over-indebted.
A sure sign that you are over-indebted is that you can’t make all your payments at the end of the month. The danger of this is that you panic and take out another loan or credit card to pay off the initial credit agreement instead of just paying off the first loan. As you approach the point where 50 percent of your monthly income is being paid towards debt repayments, loan terms begin to shorten, interest rates increase and the frequency of signing up new loans increases. During the last 12 months leading up to a debt counselling application, a typical client signs five new credit agreements.
In tough times like these, women need to take a stand against their debt by investigating Debt Counselling as a remedy to get becoming debt free! South Africa needs women who are focused on their families and careers, women who are growing their wealth and women who are positive about their future!
Monkley is Head of Marketing, IDM Group
It is expected that many more will go into arrears on their accounts this month