Mpumalanga Ehlanzeni District hosts interuniversity competition to fight GBVF

The Ehlanzeni District Municipality held a gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF) strategy competition for institutions of higher learning on April 26.

The event, held at the Disaster Management Centre, saw various students competing. Ehlanzeni said this was a result of the reports they receive on a daily basis about the increase in violent cases of rape, assault, abductions and even murder taking place in institutions of higher learning.

The municipality embarked on this intense campaign to prevent the scourge of GBVF in institutions of higher learning within the district, such as the University of Mpumalanga (UMP), the Tshwane University of Technology and Ehlanzeni TVET colleges.

In the competition, UMP outshone the rest and its strategy won it R200 000. Each institution had to present strategies they would use to help fight GBVF, and the best presentation was selected to receive the prize.

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According to the district, these incidents happen on and off campus, as there are registered and non-registered student accommodation establishments all over the area. “We are very excited that this prestigious event is for the young people who are aspiring to become the leaders of tomorrow amid the myriad of challenges that are facing our young and growing democracy. When it comes to building our global future, there is no bigger asset than today’s youth. This is the generation that will solve future crises, lead countries, write policies, innovate, and preserve or destroy democracies and systems of justice.

“The scourge of GBVF is not going down,” said the executive mayor of Ehlanzeni, Cllr Jesta Sidell. “Our print and electronic media are publishing stories of GBVF incidents every day, which heralds an era with distorted moral fibre in our society. These incidents are proof that instead of winning this battle against the scourge, the situation is getting out of hand. Serious introspection within our law enforcement agencies must be strengthened, and they must be assigned to trace the perpetrators and bring them to book to face the mighty arm of the law. We are left poorer with these killings by selfless and greedy individuals who deserve nothing better than be locked up in our institutions of correctional services and rehabilitation centres.

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“One of the flagship programmes highlighted in the district 1 plan, which is part of all the flagship programmes of the executive mayor, is the GBVF programme targeting vulnerable students who are at tertiary level. We understand the many causes of this vulnerability could be fuelled by the socio-economic circumstances of families. Students come from destitute families, and others from families lying within poverty lines. We understand that as human beings, we will always look for opportunities to survive, sometimes without premeditating the consequences of some of the choices we make in life,” she said.

Sidell said they will continue to roll out training and empowerment programmes and create more awareness of this devastating pandemic that is GBVF.