Dialogue tackles women’s issues in north

Ketswa Mabopane, a non-profit-organization in Mabopane held its third women’s dialogue where financial freedom, woman abuse and the importance of family were discussed. The event was held at Wonderpark in Akasia, and 20 women attended. Every year, the NPO hosts four events that mainly focus on issues affecting women.

“We have Mabopane conference, that focuses on growing the community, women’s day dialogue which touches on challenges that women face, meet and greet events and family day in December,” said Vivian Motswana of KPM.

Motshwane said since the NPO was launched in 2017, the most pressing issue for them has been woman abuse.

“We hosted a women’s day event last year, and we realised that women were being abused emotionally, physically and mentally. We, therefore, decided to have a follow-up session,” said Motshwane.

Motshwane said during this year’s dialogue, the organisation decided to explore the topic of blended families and financial freedom. Dikeledi Letsholo, a traditional healer said blended families occurred when a partner comes into the relationship with children.

“We as women tend to put ourselves first in a relationship and forget that there are children involved, who need love and support. It is important again that we take care of children whether they are yours or your partner’s,” said Letsholo.

Letsholo said it was possible to love children even if they were not biological.

“We cannot expect to fall in love with our partner’s children because it is a step-by-step process that needs to be followed. The advice that I have for women is that we need to improve our parenting skills. We do not have to speak at the child, we have to speak to the child. Teach them what is wrong and what is right,” said Letsholo.

Zintle Rachilo, of Bataung Life, encouraged women to seek financial freedom.

“You cannot achieve financial freedom if you do not know where you stand or what you want in life. You must know your starting point and budget properly,” said Rachilo.

“I know that we as women we go through a lot. We face difficulties because some of us are single parents, therefore, we need to be wise in spending our money,” said Rachilo.

Rachilo said it was important for women to consider taking up funeral and life cover to secure a good future for their families but that they should be careful not to overspend on them.

“We did research and found that 87 percent of people in South Africa do not have wills, which is a bad thing because when you die your assets might cause conflict in families. “Our company covers everything that I mentioned. Funeral cover, life cover and a will. Our will is offered in all 11 official languages,” said Rachilo.

“I always tell people that having a will is not about having a lot of money but about being responsible and it is regarded as your last testimony,” she said.

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