THE Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture Nathi Mthethwa says women played an equal role to men in the liberation of South Africa.
Mthethwa made these hard-hitting comments while delivering the keynote address at the National Reconciliation Day celebrations at Cillie Sportsground in Kakamas outside Upington in the Northern Cape yesterday.
He said the women’s role in the liberation struggle was recorded as a “mere auxiliary function”, saying they were using this year’s commemorations and celebrations to memorialise and thus immortalise the struggle icon, Charlotte Mannya Maxeke.
“We have sought to use the national commemorations as one of the platforms through which to cement Mama Maxeke’s legacy.
“This undertaking also has to do with our unwavering commitment to change and correct the liberation narrative which has largely been male-dominated and has thus far relegated women’s role in the struggle to a mere auxiliary function.
“It is for this reason that we declared 2021 as the Year of Charlotte Maxeke,” Mthethwa said.
He also urged South Africans to be vigilant against the Omicron variant which is surging throughout the country especially in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.
Mthethwa said reconciliation had been an important national project since the advent of our democracy and has been a constant feature in the list of priorities of successive democratic administrations since 1994.
He, however, said the Reconciliation Day celebrations were taking place while the country was contending with the fourth wave of the coronavirus, occasioned by the recently discovered omicron variant.
“This means that we ought to use every available opportunity to remind ourselves of the basic health protocols that need to be adhered to at all times, including maintaining safe physical distancing, washing of hands, sanitising and wearing of face masks to protect ourselves and others around us.
“I also need to take this opportunity to implore those among us who have still not vaccinated against Covid-19 to do so. Science has proven that vaccination reduces drastically the possibility of severe illness and hospitalisation.
“In the event that hospitalisation becomes absolutely necessary, we do know that the vaccinated are less likely to die from the disease.
“In this regard, I want to make this special appeal particularly to men and young people who are among the most resistant cohorts against COVID-19 vaccination,” Mthethwa said.
He also spoke about the spike of gender-based violence – which he described as the “second pandemic” and called upon the victims to speak out and the abusers to stop their criminal acts.
“As most of the country was under lockdown, many women and children unfortunately found themselves trapped without reprieve in homes with their abusers.
“We remain committed to dealing with this scourge which we have since dubbed ’the second pandemic’.
“It is for this reason that we now have the national strategic plan against gender-based violence and have instructed all government departments and state entities to institute strategic measures to tackle this scourge,” Mthethwa said.
He said it was quite clear that the government alone would not succeed in eliminating GBV since it is most rife in private spaces. That meant that closer co-operation of communities and families with law enforcement agencies was absolutely critical.
“Too often the perpetrators of gender-based violence are those known by the victims. This calls for joint efforts by all in ensuring that women and children begin to enjoy safer spaces and are guaranteed the same personal freedoms and safety as their male counterparts.
“Part of the conversation as we continue with the advocacy work against gender-based violence, is that the strategic interventions must also speak to behavioural change as a preventative measure – instead of just merely reacting to grievous acts already committed,” he said.
Mthethwa made a “special appeal” to state agencies and civil society groups to intensify engagements with men and boys so that they become an integral part of the struggle against gender-based violence.
“It is about time that men and young boys shoulder the responsibility for ending gender-based violence and femicide.
“There can be no real reconciliation in this country, nor can we be a nation at peace with itself, if the scourge of gender-based violence and femicide persists,” Mthethwa said.