PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa, supported by Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga, spoke to young men and boys at Maponya Mall in Soweto on Tuesday, 29 August on preventing and addressing gender-based violence and femicide.
As part of the Presidential Young Men and Boys Indaba Programme, high school boys engaged with the President and asked him questions about masculinity, GBV and how a boy should be molded into a man.
Arabile Maphiri, junior mayor of Joburg, said Mzansi needs to understand that the country is coming from a sad time when fathers had to go to work early in the morning and only come back home late at night, so they were not always there for their kids.
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"This is a reoccurring cycle where you find that even in the current society, fathers are not as present as they used to or are supposed to as a result of the cycle," he said.
Other pupils said they are forced to hide their sexuality if they're gay or lesbian because society and schools perceive them as different from others and therefore, they are treated differently and unfairly.
Thabang Ngwenya, who was at the event, said: "I am a gay. What initiative are you taking to raise awareness about gay boys at school because gay boys are abused and even the teachers at school don't take us seriously because we are gay."
Others asked the president what it meant to him to be a man and how he defined masculinity, and others asked how they could make women feel safe as unisex toilets were being introduced at schools.
Responding to the questions raised during the indaba, Ramaphosa emphasised that one of the most important things to do is to change the behaviour and social norms that drive GBVF among key groups in society, using a variety of approaches.
"There must be respect and equality. Young must be taught and should know that they need to respect women as equals and recognise their rights," Ramaphosa said.
The president said that men and boys should have empathy, which will help them become compassionate and helpful people.
He said that men should work on their attitude towards the use of unisex toilets and respect them so that women will no longer have to fear that something might happen to them.
