Khotso KD Moleko
Johannesburg - Although the laws that aim to protect women and children ought to be welcomed, this is not possible under our circumstances.
And the fact that the laws or reforms are aimed at only men is a worrying factor on its own, or at least in a normal society, it would be. In reality, the laws do not change the social patterns that are the foundation and source of immorality in vulnerable and disadvantaged communities.
The laws simply aim to scratch on the surface of things and glorify a failing ANC government, because we all know that the structures of separate development and clustering remain intact. They remain intact because the governing officials and the ANC-led government have, for nearly 30 years, failed to dismantle the social divisions that are a breeding ground for violence and lawlessness.
Moreover, GBV does not begin and end with men but with both men and women. Women are also part of the problem. They are not totally innocent victims!
If we don’t accept that women are also part of the problem, it would be like saying white children who are raised by black nannies but who turn racist do so because it is in their nature and their own doing alone. Or that the children and adults who are black and who hate other black people from Africa did not learn that from their elders at home.
The same with GBV, the source of violence is the inequality that exists particularly in black communities, and the non-existent infrastructure that would enable men and women to have the same values and therefore an equal platform for mutual respect and appreciation.
Yet that does not exist in South Africa. The proposed GBV laws can only serve to accuse and paralyze the activism of men and in turn secure women's vote.
These laws are also used by those in power to eliminate rivals and silence opponents. And if we are honest, women do love attention, and these GBV campaigns can only be temporary emotional excitement but long-term attachment to the incompetent ruling elites.
In the long term, neither castration nor jailing can discipline the nature of wrongdoing in men. Human capacity must be developed at all levels with the content of goodness and love for a just and equal society to exist. On the practical level, any court records will show a long list of falsely accused men, by women and children, as well as a sizable number of men who served time for rape, but were later acquited.
I do not deny that GBV is a serious problem but it is false to say GBV is the greatest form of violence in South Africa, and that it is only perpetuated by men only. Women also abuse their spouses and children, particularly those who are not their own, emotionally and increasingly financially, and this silent violence breeds other forms of violence.
I dare the government to prove it is serious on GBV by building more prisons for all those GBV accused and guilty men, because the current prisons are full.
But the law must protect everyone, including men from abusive women.
The government must focus on delivering services and erasing the social structures of separate development and leave indoctrination and political campaigning for the times of elections instead of using social ills as a tool to charm vulnerable and desperate women voters.
Khotso KD Moleko, Bloemfontein, Free State