Men put on lipstick for a cause

Bela-Bela Mayor Jeremiah Ngobeni joined the broader nation in putting on lipstick as part of the nationwide campaign to raise awareness against gender-based violence.

The event took place on Friday 13 September, with the volunteers parading in their red lipstick from the municipal building, right through downtown streets, and back to the municipality.

The Office of the Mayor organized the event, targeting men from all the divisions within the municipality.

Municipal spokesperson, Kabelo Mosito, said the exercise was not once-off thing, as they intend to partner with organizations taking part in the fight against gender-based violence, and the
general abuse of women and children.

“We intend to host bigger events with such organizations in the future, and create more awareness about gender-based violence,” Mosito said.

“We appeal to all men to care, love and protect women in their lives and in their communities. We also want to assure women that they are not next. Men that we met as we were parading around
the town streets showed interest in our campaign and some were even talking about the messages on the posters we displayed while parading,” he added.

— The BEAT