A men’s gathering / dialogue was cheld at the Town Hall on Tuesday, November 19.
Present at the event were Mayor Vincent Madlala, Chief Whip T Ngubane, reverends, pastors, representatives from the Men’s Sector and Brothers For Life, councillors, as well as many men and women from the community.
The event was hosted by the Emnambithi/Ladysmith municipal gender office under Operation Sukuma Sakhe in partnership with Qhakaza Mbokodo research council.
This year, the men’s dialogue was to certify that the men of Ladysmith, led by the mayor, are strongly against the rape and abuse of women and children. The theme was thus ‘No woman will be raped in my name’.
Mayor Madlala addressed those at the event and told them that men should play a pivotal role in teaching boys to become ‘real men’. He said it pleased him very much to see events like this taking place where men gather and stand together in the fight against violence towards women.
The mayor also reiterated the role of drugs and alcohol in some of the crimes directed towards women and children. “As men who protect women, we must work together with the SAPS and have lots of men’s dialogue programmes where not only do we discuss issues about ourselves, but also issues on how we can work together to make this country a better one,” he said.
One of the speakers, Dr Nkosi, elaborated on how the body of a man acts and reacts to certain situations, and how men are affected by various issues but fail to talk about them.
After the dialogue, the men, supported by women, took to the streets of Ladysmith (the taxi ranks and other places where many men usually gather) and distributed pamphlets, condoms and information brochures to emphasise that the abuse of women and children will not be tolerated.
