South Africa’s ongoing battle against gender-based violence has placed renewed importance on empowering women to face challenges with confidence, with the Danie van Zyl initiative focusing on building self-belief beyond physical self-defence.

Madiala Leputu, a First Dan in Tang Soo Do, says building confidence among women is central to the initiative aimed at encouraging them to believe in themselves and face challenges in different areas of their lives.

Read more: Dennis Dlomo builds community health through Brixton fitness club

Leputu said the initiative was not limited to self-defence, but also sought to encourage women to develop the confidence to deal with situations they encounter at work, at school and in their everyday lives.

Empowerment through action

He said the aim was to encourage women to believe in their abilities and recognise that they could take action when faced with difficult circumstances.

Leputu said even when a person could not get out of a difficult situation, having the confidence to try to do something rather than simply giving up was important.

Also read: Wits Juniors U17 dominate late stages but settle for draw against Rockefvs FC

“We believe that with what we are doing right now, necessarily, even if you don’t get out of the situation, you can have the confidence in yourself that I tried to do something; I just didn’t sit back and be like, okay, you know what, it’s over,” he said.

He said the broader objective was to empower women by encouraging self-belief and giving them the confidence to face challenges.

He said the initiative was driven by the hope of empowering women and contributing to a better South Africa.

Follow us on our Whatsapp channel, Facebook, X, Instagram and TikTok for the latest updates!