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10 December 2020 | Story Sibongile Madlala | Photo Supplied
Sibongile Mdlala End of Gender-based Violence
Sibongile Madlala believes it is time to get every single South African involved in the fight to eradicate gender-based violence and not to look away or to stand on the side-line watching.

Sibongile Madlala, Crime Investigations Officer in Protection Services, believes it is time to get every single South African – especially boys and men – involved in the fight to eradicate gender-based violence and not to look away or to stand on the side-line watching.


“It is a time to observe that to date, gender-based violence awareness messages still promote the idea that it only affects women and children (girls) and to a certain extent ignores the plight of the LGBTIQ community, men and boys,” she says.

Report, do not keep quiet

It is time for the government and other relevant stakeholders to do everything possible to establish the root causes of GBV. She feels it is necessary to pay attention to and address matters such as mental health (of the offender and the victim/survivor), victim-offender overlap, patriarchal lines, and cultural practices that perpetuate gender inequalities.

“Government also need to observe the value of training officers of the law and the justice department, as it takes a special kind of person to deal and assist victims accordingly,” she says. 
 

Madlala is convinced that the criminal justice system needs to revisit the laws, policies, and systems that are dealing with gender-based violence-related matters, as it is failing the victims. “It is unfair to expect a victim to recount every single intimate detail in chronological order; it is also unfair to expect a minor or a mentally challenged person to stand in a box facing the perpetrator as they lead evidence over a lengthened period. The failure to implement child-friendly facilities is not acceptable,” she adds. 

“It is said that knowledge is power, and
I believe the sooner this pandemic is understood
by the victims, perpetrators, and handlers
— the sooner we will see some changes in this regard.”
—Sibongile Madlala

Dealing with perpetrators

There is a National Sexual Offenders register in which the names of all prosecuted offenders are listed when they are found guilty. In dealing with perpetrators, she suggests a similar national offender register for gender-based violence offenders. “It is important that offenders are known, as those who need to protect are sometimes abusers themselves,” says Madlala.

The 16 days of activism is a time to let everybody know that gender-based violence is not a private matter. “It is said that knowledge is power, and I believe that the sooner this pandemic is understood by the victims, perpetrators, and handlers – the sooner we will see some changes in this regard.” 

She deems it important that victims are taught the importance of reporting and not protecting the abuser, and she emphasises the significance of ensuring that the voices of survivors, activists, and those mandated to address these matters at grassroots level are amplified and listened to.

Madlala sees this period as a celebration of survivors, the victors, heroes and heroines, young and old – especially those who have chosen to speak out about their traumatic experiences, knowing that the response may be negative.
 
“It is a time to commemorate all victims of gender-based violence and to raise awareness, stimulate advocacy efforts, and share knowledge on this topic,” she says.

It is time …

News Archive

UFS celebrates Kagiso Trust’s 30 years of commitment to the empowerment of impoverished communities
2015-07-15

From the left are: MEC Tate Makgoe, Free State Department of Education; Busi Tshabalala, Thabo Mofutsanyana Education District Director; Dean Zwo Nevhutalu,  Kagiso Trust Trustee  and UFS Director of Community Engagement, Bishop, Billy Ramahlele.
Photo: ?Thabo Kessah

Future sustainable partnerships in education will survive only if all partners are committed, honest, and transparent.

This is the view expressed by the Free State MEC for Education and UFS Council member, Tate Makgoe, during the panel discussion at the Qwaqwa Campus of the University of the Free State celebrating Kagiso Trust’s 30 years of commitment to the empowerment of impoverished communities. The topic was “The future partnership models for education in Africa”.

“Over the years, the partnership between the Free State Department of Education, the UFS, and Kagiso Trust has helped to expose the potential in our mainly rural children in the Qwaqwa area of the Thabo Mofutsanyana district,” said Makgoe.

”When we started in 2009, the matric pass rate in the district was 64%, and this rose to 87% in 2014. In Qwaqwa alone, we have managed to build 51 computer and 26 physical sciences laboratories. It was these laboratories that enabled the Free State to be the best performing province in the Physical Sciences in 2013,” added Makgoe.

“None of these achievements would have been possible if all the partners had not been committed to the course. Partnerships built on honesty and transparency are the best model, which we hope to export to other provinces and, indeed, countries,” Makgoe said.

Representing the UFS on the panel was the Director of Community Engagement, Bishop Billy Ramahlele, who added that collaborations can be successful only if the leadership was exemplary.

“As the university, we have had many collaboration with various government departments, and great strides have been achieved only with the Department of Education under the leadership of MEC Makgoe,” said Ramahlele.

”With the MEC on board, the UFS ended up dedicating its South Campus in Bloemfontein to supporting Free State schools. We now have 70 schools that benefit from live television broadcasts of lessons by some of our outstanding academics. This also enables our best academics to make a valued contribution to empowering our teachers. It also allows the university to maximise scarce resources to attain social cohesion,” he said.

In his remarks, Kagiso Trust Trustee, Dean Zwo Nevhutalu, said that Kagiso Trust was looking forward to continue working with its partners to maximise outcomes through limited resources.

“Kagiso Trust will continue to work with the poor and the marginalised and there is no better partner than the government itself. The government provides basic services, and education is one of them. This allows us to be innovative and not just dump books and equipment at schools because we are forced to by our corporate social investment obligations. Therefore, we challenge the government also to be innovative in building a sustainable future partnership model in education,” he said.

Among the dignitaries attending the panel discussion were Kagiso Trust Chairman, Dr Frank Chikane, and the late Dr Beyers Naude’s family.

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