It is time for South African men to be better human beings, change their violent ways, and learn to coexist with women and children. Men from across the country gathered for the annual summit to speak about their challenges, hear each other out, confront their traumas and build one another.
The EmpowaMen Summit is dubbed as a safe space for men. Annually, they get an opportunity to hold each other accountable, motivate each other, and deal with internal traumas. Those at the summit believe it can no longer be business as usual.
Media personality Nimrod Nkosi says, “When you hear that there is a six-year-old recently in Orlando that was raped and murdered by a man, you know the disgust that we feel. So, we are here to talk about this situation and not to put a bandage over it or make it palatable when you talk about it, to go against it.”
Said one of the attendees, “You look at criminality in general, you look at the number of men in prison, and you can see that somewhere along the line, there is a missing link, so this event of this magnitude is attempting to close the gap so that men can start to be honest with themselves to say to say I need help,” adds a delegate Mohlodi Montle.
In recent years, man’s reputation has not been a good one. First-quarter crime statistics show that some 300 children and more than 900 women were murdered. Rapes also rose to more than 9000.
Some of the delegates say that change begins with honest and open discussions. A male summit attendee emphasised the role of fathers in combating gender-based violence.
Actor and author Dr John Kani says, “The only way we can stop this violence against women, this rape, this abuse, is me talking to my son and sit him down and say, if my son has changed, if I make a good man out of my son, then your daughter is safe.”
The Summit participant also talks about the need for men to be part of the solution in addressing societal issues that affect women and children.
“We are often viewed as the perpetrator and the problem causer, what we seek as men is to have an env where we can be human, we can address the issues and find a solution that we can roll out to the community and the women and children in our lives,” a delegate Lunga Ncala-Ndlovu explains.
Organisers of the EmpowaMen are hoping the discussions that come out of the summit will motivate men to reflect and be better people in society.
