War on gender-based violence

The Premier Soccer League and Soweto’s two biggest soccer clubs, Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates have joined forces with Carling Black Label to unite ‘Champion Men’ in support of the #NoExcuse movement against women abuse.

The partnership was sealed before the much-anticipated Soweto derby of the Absa Premiership. At the match, a group of inspiring women who were pre-selected to form a #NoExcuse choir, performed a beautiful rendition of the popular Mas’hambe Nono (Let’s walk together my love). In true Mzansi style, the well-known song had re-adapted lyrics that aimed to bring awareness to the reality many women face on a daily basis – abuse by a partner.

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The song tells a story of a woman who is abused after her partner arrives home from a big soccer match where his team had lost. The choir’s rendition of the song raised the emphasis on the all-important message of #NoExcuse – being under the influence of alcohol is not an excuse, your team losing a match is no excuse, there is #NoExcuse for women abuse.

The Buccaneers and Amakhosi also joined forces for the movement and showed their full support against gender-based violence by wearing #NoExcuse branded armbands for the match.

The Soweto giants amplified their support by posing for a combined post-match group photo following the derby. The symbolism behind this gesture was to communicate to South African men to unite against women abuse.

Last year, Carling Black Label in partnership with Takuwani Riime which is Venda for ‘let us stand up together’, embarked on the #NoExcuse journey, which marked the beginning of this bold new movement.

The long-term campaign against gender-based violence was launched during the national 16 Days of Activism Against the Abuse of Women and Children.

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Speaking just before the derby kick-off at the FNB Stadium, Andrea Quaye, vice president for marketing at SAB and ABInBev Africa said, “When we launched the #NoExcuse movement, we wanted to embark on a 365 days a year approach. We have worked with both Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates for the past seven years and bringing them with us on this journey against women abuse is something that we felt would help us reach out to more men.

“We want the whole country to stand up and for men around South Africa to know that there is no excuse for gender-based violence as well as take action to combat this social ill.”

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