Soweto Young Men United dialogue solutions to GBV
Words of a late friend inspired a movement of young men in Soweto to speak up on GBVF.
The entire movement could be distilled from a single conversation Tshepo Lekwape had with his late friend, Mthobisi Ndlovu. It was during the hard lockdown, in May 2020, when Tshepo received a call. A concerned Mthobisi suggested that something ought to be done about the scourge of Gender-based violence ravaging through Soweto.
“We were already a sort of group – Soweto Young Men United. We were not entirely sure what we were going to do, but we knew that we had to do something,” Lekwape recalled.
“That phone call is how the idea started. At that point, we had no idea how big it would be. Mthobisi pointed out that young women were dying and there was nothing significant us young men were doing about it, from that conversation, Thezi Sessions was born. He hosted us for our first session.”
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The sessions would be a group of men involved in various community-building initiatives – one of which being the conversation around Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF). This conversation in particular, according to Lekwape, should be led by men.
“The women have spoken, they have been speaking, and crying for a long time. Now, where are the men? We are the ones who have to speak now because the truth is, women are not killing each other, men are committing these crimes. Even as men we are scared to go outside at night because we are afraid of other men, because we know what men are capable of, it must be said clearly that the problem lies squarely with men,” Lekwape said.
The group, which has up to 15 founding then traveled around various townships of Soweto, inviting young men around a bonfire to come to speak, share opinions, learn new habits and unlearn old ones.
“The response has been overwhelming. People ask us why we have not gotten a bigger venue. So we appreciate the effort, not just from men alone, women have asked if they could be part of this conversation but we wanted a space where men could speak and solutions could be offered by other men, who may have been, have been in a similar situation or have a better understanding. We also recommend therapy or counseling if necessary,” concluded Lekwape.
On future plans for Thezi Sessions, Lekwape revealed that there are plans to reach out to teenagers.
“When we were in Protea, a group of boys reached out to us and told us about the pressures they face while in high school: peer pressure, drugs, and alcohol, we realised that there is something that we must do, and give them a platform to speak and get advice,” he concluded.
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