Veteran music stars, Babsy Mlangeni and Blondie Makhene will help in the fight against gender-based violence as part of the line-up for the “Take a stand against GBVF” event set to take place at Soweto’s Naledi Hall on Friday.
The event coincides with the 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children campaign which kicked off this past week.
On Saturday, while in KZN, President Cyril Ramaphosa called on South African men to play a role in dismantling the image that the country was a place where women are abused.
Addressing the public in Durban at the start of the annual 16 Days of Activism against gender-based violence (GBV) on Saturday, Ramaphosa said men who continued to abuse women were creating a bad image of the country.
Last week, Gauteng police commissioner General Elias Mawela painted a grim picture of GBV and violent crimes in the province despite a 2.6% reduction of crime from July to September..
He said in spite of a reduction in rape and sexual assault, which decreased by 7.4% and 20.5% respectively, there was still a lot of work to be done to end GBV.
The founder of the Soweto event and chairperson of the Music Publishers Association of SA (Mpasa), Stephen Tsie, said it was important to spread the word about the scourge of GBV, which he is why he had teamed up with artists.
“We have decided to also be part of creating a solution by embarking on a community-based awareness campaign,” Tsie said.
Tsie said using the power of music and artists’ ability to unite people of diverse backgrounds was an ideal way to help highlight the dangers of GBV in communities such as Soweto.
“This event will, for the first time in Soweto, create a platform for the communities, NPOs, NGOs, and the government to come together in one room and seek solutions and prevention measures for GBVF. This event should give us solutions and prevention measures of GBVF. We should come out of that hall with answers for the different communities,” he said.
Other artists who will be part of the solutions-driven approach to fighting GBV include Joe Nina and Tu Nokwe who in the past have been instrumental in addressing social ills.
Tsie said recent statistics had revealed that Soweto, which includes areas such as Naledi, Zola, Tladi and Moletsane, is a hotspot for GBV in the province.
The Star
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