Police Minister Bheki Cele, who once labelled gender-based violence (GBV) as a pandemic that is at “crisis levels” in South Africa, has been featured on a song Khuzekani Madoda that aims to address the problem.
The song is produced by music duo LandLordz and features the Nation’s Poet, who is also a Member of the Parliament,Zolani Mkiva (Imbongi Yesizwe) and Phindo Ngxanga, a member of popular a cappella group The Soil.
The song opens with words from the minister that speak against the pandemic.
LandLordz member Nick Mposwa says they first secured Mkiva to partake on the song before the minister – and believe that their involvement will better communicate the message far and wide.
The song was launched on Sunday, and is the first of many projects that the duo are embarking on because they believe it is time that men stand up and make a difference.
“Today we will be marching with all the guests, but moreover we want the song to be a backtrack to all the campaigns to come. And using music as our first point made sense to us because that is our forte, that is what we are about.
“I really think it is time that men take charge because most of the time we see women going out, sometimes on their own, pleading for us men to stop abusing them. Well it is high time that men lead this fight,” Mposwa said.
The campaigns will target all men but mostly the young ones, so they grow up with the teachings that “abusing, killing or beating women is wrong”, he said.
“Seeing the brutal recent killing of a young woman in East London, we just felt that it was enough. And knowing that there are thousands others who are being killed and are not as public as this one, is paralysing. We believe that through music, just like legends have done to send out messages, that we will be able to send a strong message to everyone.”
This is not Mposwa’s first time being involved in the making of a GBV song, having written a song for an artist last year.
“I think this is a strong mission that God has placed in my heart, that men need to be reminded and taught about how horrible this is,” he said.
He admits that bringing on board prominent people like the minister was scary but said with the creative help of people like Ngxanga, the process was fun.
“Our plan is to use music to protest against GBV as young musicians in South Africa and set the tone for the next generation of men to stop violating our sisters and that we must love and protect them sincerely.”
Police Ministry spokesperson Lirandzu Themba said seeing that the SAPS is the first point of entry into the criminal justice system, there is a high expectation that the police must be able to speedily resolve all cases reported to them and treat victims of GBV with decency and the utmost professionalism.
This, therefore, is yet another way that the ministry, together with Minister Cele and Deputy Minister Cassel Mathale, continue their work of publicly addressing and highlighting the plight of women and children while appealing to the conscience of men in society to refrain from being the perpetrators of GBV, said Themba.
“The Police Ministry believes this collaboration with young artists who are dedicated to using their craft of music to educate and inform their peers and the public in general about the scourge before us, is another reaffirmation of the Police Ministry’s commitment to rid society of GBV, through targeted messaging aimed at communities especially at men, who are often perpetrators of GBVF.”
Sunday Independent