POLOKWANE – A villages-based forum around Mankweng is pushing for community-led women’s and men’s conferences to tackle gender-based violence and femicide, following the killing of a female security guard at the University of Limpopo.

The Dimamo Cluster Forum, representing Ga-Dikgale, Ga-Mmamabolo, Ga-Mothiba and surrounding villages, says it will no longer watch its communities “blow into the air” while women and children are killed across the country.

‘We refuse to be silent’

Chairperson Chief Jan Masetla and secretary Nelson Ramogale announced the plan during a digital media briefing on Thursday, following their latest executive meeting where GBVF was flagged as a growing concern.

Masetla said the forum will in the coming weeks engage churches, traditional leaders and other community-driven stakeholders for support before convening a women’s conference, followed by a men’s conference, and ultimately a mass joint conference to find solutions.

“We refuse to be silent watching our communities blow into the air. Not only will we engage them about issues affecting women but the rates of suicide among men for the sake of solutions,” he said.

A national spotlight on GBVF

The initiative comes at a time when GBVF is again in the national spotlight – from the loss of life of women and children elsewhere in the country, to the recent incident at the University of Limpopo where a female security guard was allegedly hit with a hammer by her romantic partner on the institution’s premises until she died, and to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s address yesterday on government’s response.

It is in that national context that community safety and GBV activist in Polokwane, Mabotse Mothiba, commended Dimamo’s grassroots approach, saying it is needed because government talk shops have failed to make women safe.

Mothiba said while government interventions including the President’s address are important, they are not sufficient on their own.

“South Africans cannot afford another government talk show. We have heard the promises, the strategies and the commitments before. If government says cases will be audited within 60 days, forensic backlogs addressed, municipalities will conduct safety audits and progress will be reported every quarter, then communities must be able to see those results,” she told Polokwane Observer.

Calls for service delivery and local jobs

Beyond GBVF, Dimamo also used the briefing to call on local councillors to prioritise service delivery and ensure communities benefit from available opportunities.

The forum further raised concerns about employment, calling for local residents to be prioritised for jobs and urging stakeholders to address the employment of undocumented foreign nationals, particularly in projects serviced by the Polokwane Municipality in their villages and townships.

Masetla said the forum will seek local stakeholder support to make the conferences a reality.