As South Africa’s gender-based violence (GBV) rates continue to rise rapidly, Primestars and The YouthStart Foundation on May 14 asked a significant question by officially premiering What About The Boys 2 (WATB2) at Ster-Kinekor, The Zone @ Rosebank.

In attendance at the premiere were Deputy Minister of Higher Education and Training, Dr Nomusa Dube-Ncube, corporate executives, civil society and learners from various schools.

Incepted in 2022, the first iteration of What About The Boys reached more than 60 000 boys across more than 180 schools nationally, supported by more than 400 mentors and 35 partners, including the presidency and the Department of Basic Education.

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Independent evaluations revealed a 67% reduction in bullying and measurable shifts away from violence-supportive attitudes.

What About The Boys 2 introduces a dual-gender intervention model that brings boys and girls together into a shared learning environment to challenge harmful gender norms collectively.

Martin Sweet, the executive chairman of Primestars, explained that the GBV crisis began long before violence itself.

“Where does gender-based violence begin? Not in a courtroom or a police station. It begins much earlier, the moment a boy is told that crying is weakness, and a girl learns that silence is her safest option.”

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Sweet added that society continued to hand young people ‘scripts’ that reinforced dominance in boys and compliance in girls, creating conditions where harm becomes predictable.

“We are not here to blame, we are not here to rescue. The children in our classrooms are not a problem to be solved; they are the leverage point.”

Matt Greenfield, who plays Ryan in What About the Boys 2, said the film was important because it spoke to our current challenges in society.

“The character Ryan, and the others, represent many lives of people in the country who face many challenges. Ryan has substance abuse challenges, which stem from being abused by his father at home, and we eventually see him get professional help and speak up, which is an important emphasis made in the film.”

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Primestars CEO Nkosinathi Moshoana outlined the organisation’s next strategic chapter, centred around accelerating young people from ‘learning to earning’.

“Young people in South Africa suffer from broken pathways between education and economic participation.

Our responsibility is to create a full continuum of development, from schoolroom to boardroom, from classroom to career pathway, from mentorship to meaningful participation in the economy.”

Dube-Ncube concluded that it was an honour to be among thought leaders who were interested in alleviating societal ills that have relentlessly affected young people in society.

“Congratulations on the success of What About the Boys. When one sits intentionally with a question, it becomes a call to action. The response for which we are all responsible in our society.”

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