- Lumkile Sizila started Amadoda Qotho in 2021. Men aged 18 and older meet every Monday to discuss violence, drugs and crime.
- Members pay a R50 membership fee and a R50 donation once a year, and the group has no funding or sponsors.
Lumkile Sizila from Khayelitsha township in Cape Town started the Amadoda Qotho organisation in 2021 to counter gender-based violence (GBV), drug abuse, crime and a lack of positive male role models in the community.
“We meet men aged 18 and older every Monday to discuss GBV, substance abuse, crime, and men’s health, to name but a few,” Sizila said.
The organisation aims to empower men to become responsible, respectful and active citizens who contribute to safer and healthier communities.
The group pays for its own work.
“Sometimes we organise camps and hikes; we use our own money because we don’t have funding or sponsors, and we cannot ask for money because people depend on grant money and piece jobs,” Sizila said.
Members pay a membership fee of R50 and a donation of R50 once a year.
“We use the money to pay for some of the things we need for this to succeed. We cannot sit back and do nothing just because we don’t have money. We are doing this hoping that one day we will get funding,” Sizila said.
The men also visit primary schools to give talks about the dangers of being involved in crime and how to behave.
“Without role models, boys are at risk of being pulled into crime and other bad things. We are trying to prevent harm before it starts, and as men, we should be protecting our families, not the other way around,” Sizila said.
Zandile Bokwana, a 48-year-old parent, is grateful for the work.
“Sometimes our kids don’t listen to us, especially single parents, so organisations like these are important in changing our kids’ behaviour,” she said.
Lunga Goqwana, a 50-year-old man, said organisations that let men talk about their feelings are needed because many men are able to change.
“Men are under a lot of stress, and they take it out by doing wrong things like beating their wives, girlfriends, and children. So an organisation like this is saving a lot of people from being abused, and men who might end up in jail for committing crimes such as hitting women and children,” he said.
Funeka Soldaat, an activist, said the Makhaza area in Khayelitsha has many problems with GBV and domestic violence.
“We also have murders, but not as many as other police stations here in Khayelitsha. We also have a problem with victims who open cases and later withdraw them. The incidents of domestic violence and GBV happen mostly on weekends when people are drunk,” she said.
She said organisations like Amadoda Qotho are making a huge change in the community.
“They are doing a good job, and they also attend imbizo, where they talk to community members about GBV, crime, and other pressing issues in our community,” Soldaat said.
