Residents of Ganyesa, near Vryburg in the North West, will on Saturday commit to the fight against gender-based violence (GBV) and femicide in their area.
They will include 16-year-old horse rider, Botshelo Maogwe, popularly known as ‘Texas Cowboy’.
Lesego Edmund, operations manager for the Mompati Horse Ride For Change, says they are using horse riding to raise awareness against the violence.
Horse riders, community leaders, fathers, young men and families are expected to publicly commit to taking accountability, responsibility and action against gender-based violence and femicide at Ganyesa near Vryburg in the North West#MorningLive #SABCNews
— SABCNews_MorningLive (@MorningLiveSABC) December 20, 2025
VIDEO | NW ‘Texas Cowboy’ takes up fight for GBVF victims
“There has been a highlight or a big story on the fact that a six-year-old was rape and killed, which is a girl, and which is a minor. We stand very strong against this. So, it is also to have the whole of South Africa, being able to know about that, and gender based violence is not exclusive to a certain group or demographic. It affects everyone. It does not say a time and when. So, here in Ganyesa, we are going to use horse racing as positive masculinity, to affirm that as men, we stand against GBV,” says Maogwe. – Reporting by Lebogang Pebe.
Gender Based Violence and Femicide #GBVF has been formally classified as a national disaster in terms of Section 23 of the Disaster Management Act. The classification places GBVF at the highest level of national priority, requiring coordinated action across all state structures.… pic.twitter.com/BVP7NVaoHd
— South African Government (@GovernmentZA) December 19, 2025
VIDEO | Sixteen-year-old horse rider Botshelo Maogwe, ‘Texas Cowboy’ shines the spotlight on GBVF
