Apartheid played a role in breaking SA men – Black Coffee

On Saturday, four women held a silent rape protest at the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) national results operations centre in Pretoria where President Jacob Zuma was addressing guests.

They held signs reading “10 years later”, “Remember Khwezi”, “I am 1 in 3” and “Khanga” while Zuma delivered his speech. The placards were in reference to Zuma’s rape trial a decade ago.

The silent protest opened a debate around sexual violence in South Africa, with celebrities such as Nkosinathi “Black Cofee” Maphumulo and Kiernan “AKA” Forbes sharing their thoughts about it on Twitter.

Black Coffee on Monday urged SA men to speak about rape. In a series of tweets, he called this generation a “lol generation” that never speaks out when they see something wrong, “instead they’ll be quick to ‘lol’, it’s really sad,” he tweeted.

The We Dance Again hit maker says apartheid played a major role in breaking most South African men, adding that his discussion was not about President Jacob Zuma.

“Most of our Fathers and Uncles didn’t have time to be Fathers and care hug and kiss their own kids…They didn’t know how.”

As a result, they were always angry and took out their frustrations on their wives, who accepted their behaviour as the norm, said Coffee. He also touched on mothers who were thought to be silent on rape because they never knew how to approach it.

“Most girls that are raped tell their Mothers but Mothers were thought to be silent…’kuyabekezelwa’.

“We as Men need to create groups talk, teach and learn because this New South Africa is really a new thing to all of us. It us really up to us.”

He tweeted:

However, AKA said it’s “tricky”.

As a public figure you can get blasted for your opinion and get blasted for not having one, he tweeted. “What can WE as MEN do to make this country better for our women? It’s like we need to shut up and let you figure it out for yourselves or?”

He also urged men to do the best they could to address sexual violence.