Gender-based violence remains a pandemic in the country.
Numbers around this scourge continue to soar locally without an end in sight with an instant of GBV occurring every 63 seconds in South Africa.
Women and children bear the brunt of this societal ill.
It is with this in mind that popular beer brand Carling Black Label have given rise to a #Noexcuse campaign aimed at the men in the hopes of helping those who might have issues with their anger.
The idea is for the campaign to stretch beyond the annual 16 Days of Activism with an intensification of on the ground and street level activations and workshops aimed at men and discussing issues around mental health, trauma and learning to manage your temper.
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The campaign will see media personality and entrepreneur TT Mbha as an ambassador. The gentleman walks Drum through what this project will entail and what his involvement will mean.
“As the founder of Amatyma wellness network, which focuses on the wellness of men, I found it important to collaborate with #NoExcuse because it deals with a societal ill wherein men are the biggest perpetrators, and so it only made sense for me to get involved in order to break generational curses around GBV,” he explains.
TT has hopes that this campaign will be a wakeup call for a lot of men, “to stop making excuses and to start actively getting involved in being part of the solution.”
He believes there is an urgent need for safe spaces to be created for men to air out their issues and childhood traumas without fear of judgement.
“That is why we have created a safe space for men through the Amatyma telegram group, which currently has 1,115 men who are single, married, divorced and widowed,” TT says.
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Imparting some of his own experiences with either being angry or experiencing the rage of someone TT reveals that he prefers to diffuse a situation at all costs.
“I usually prefer to walk away from any situation that could potentially anger me. Yes, I've previously been in a verbally abusive relationship, and I choose to walk away after several attempts to remedy my partner's verbal attacks on me.”
He doesn’t have words of advice to anyone who might fall to their rage but instead offers a stern warning, “I would warn them about the negative impact of abuse on the victim. I would also ask them how they would feel if the same abuse was directed at their loved ones.”
His mantra when it comes to matters that might erupt into an abusive situation is to, “Walk away. Walk away. Walk away. It's not worth it.”
In order to deal with an issue a person first needs to concede to having a problem.
“They must first acknowledge within themselves that they really need help before seeking it outside. We need better role models, especially for the boy child. Every boy has a man that they look up to pr would like to emulate.”
TT says that his Amatyma wellness network will expand its reach in 2024 through various interventions deliberately designed to bring men into environments that will propel them to speak up and show up more for themselves, their families, their loved ones, their environment, and their communities.
