Let’s unite to protect the women of SA

WE ENTER this year’s Women’s Month with very little to celebrate as their successes and achievements have been overshadowed by the ongoing onslaught against them by men.

Week in and week out, we report on the violence that women, together with their children, continue to suffer at the hands of those expected to protect them.

The founding mothers of our democracy such as Albertina Sisulu, Lilian Ngoyi, Bertha Gxowa, Rahima Moosa, Helen Joseph and many others who led the more than 20 000 women to the Union Buildings 64 years ago, are surely turning in their graves because of the attacks on women.

Instead of directing all our efforts towards their goal of total emancipation of women that Mama Sophia Williams-De Bruyn and many others longed to see, we are confronted with another pandemic called gender-based violence (GBV).

Through it, so many lives have been cut short, and hundreds if not thousands, left with scars that will take years to heal, if they will ever heal at all.

The men of our country should hang their heads in shame that women of a democratic South Africa are having to look over their shoulders every now and then. That they should be armed with a pepper spray in their handbag or take self-defence classes.

That young women should be scared of being raped when using communal toilets at night.

That mothers should regret letting their children out to play with friends because they might go missing and later found killed by the uncle next door.

This fight must not be left in the hands of the police and government alone. It is a problem that will be addressed when all of us pull together.

For far too long, the corporate world has been silent on steps to fight the scourge of GBV at the workplace and in society. They too have the responsibility to tackle this issue.

This editorial would not be complete without dedicating it to all the women on the front lines in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic in our country, especially those caring for the sick. Your love, care and resilience continues to go a long way in defeating this deadly virus.

The famous slogan wathint’ abafazi, wathint’ imbokodo couldn’t be more fitting.

Malibongwe igama lamakhosikazi!