VIDEO: Gauteng Provincial Legislature’s Men’s Forum get its hands dirty for domestic abuse awareness
JOHANNESBURG - Bree and Noord received a much-needed clean-up.
Two major Johannesburg taxi ranks, Bree and Noord received a much-needed clean-up on 20 July, thanks to the Gauteng Provincial Legislature’s Men’s Forum.
Led by deputy chairperson of Portfolio Committees in the Legislature, Mike Madlala, the clean-up started at Noord, also known as the MTN taxi rank, and then proceeded to Bree taxi rank.
Read: Clean-up operation a necessity
This initiative was a bid to help spread awareness of general hygiene, environmental preservation and the health benefits of maintaining clean environments. It is also a plea to call on all commuters to dispose of waste appropriately, thus contributing to cleaner and healthier public spaces.
Beyond just cleaning up, the core aim of this initiative was to spread awareness on women and child abuse. “Our slogan is, ‘We, Madoda!’ which means, ‘We, as men!’. We are saying no to women abuse. No to domestic abuse. No to child abuse. We, as the Men’s Forum, are starting with cleanliness because cleanliness is next to Godliness.”
Madlala also stressed the importance of reversing traditional gender roles in relationships. He said that men must stop expecting women to clean up after them but instead must help the women because women already carry such a burden in society.
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“This clean-up initiative also signifies that men can and must also clean up and help around their homes. We are starting here at the taxi ranks to encourage men that when they get on the taxi and arrive home, they will have been inspired to be better for their women.”
With women and child abuse being at the centre of news recently, Madlala and his team spent some time in-between picking up litter, to engage with commuters in the area, both male and female to help spread awareness on this issue.
“We must not lose their status as men,” Madlala told the crowd.
“We must retain our status because our name has been reduced by those few bad men in society. We want men who will be protectors of our women in society. We want men who will love and commit to our women.”
Read: MUST READ: Police descend on Bree Taxi Rank in sting operation
One of his closing statements to the crowd was about the importance of communication in the household. He stressed that men should not lash out aggressively to their women or children just to prove their masculinity. “You don’t hit a child, you correct the child. You don’t hit your woman, you talk to your woman.”
Madlala encouraged men to go out and start their own forums and not just rely on government structures to lead the way all the time.
Details: https://gpl.gov.za/tag/mens-forum/
