National Youth Day: across the week, Scrolla.Africa is reviewing the young leaders of South Africa across the fields of sport, activism, entertainment and more. Buziwe Nocuze catches up with two young men who are trying to bring an end to gender-based violence in their township.
In 2019, Siyabonga Khusela and Luyolo Lengisi, two 23-year-olds from Langa township in Cape Town, started an organisation called #LangaForMen to fight gender-based violence (GBV).
Khusela told Scrolla.Africa that after seeing women being abused, they decided to be involved in the fight as the issue concerns men just as much as women and children. To be on common ground, they needed to bring everyone into the struggle against GBV.
“The stats of gender-based violence escalated in 2020 because people were frustrated after losing their jobs. We had so many cases. We had to do something to manage stress in some families and started a soup kitchen,” he said.
They have a daily sanitary pad drive where they teach men about menstruation and deliver free pads to women who need them. People contact them on their social media platforms when they need pads and they send a volunteer over to deliver them.
They also work with all 10 schools in Langa township, where every month they have a pad drive, visiting schools to check if they still have pads and restocking them if they don’t.
“We don’t always have pads, so we would ask people to show ubuntu by buying pads for those in need. We are encouraging people to assist each other where they can,” said Khusela.
They understand that girls are going through a lot, some missing school because they can’t afford pads. So they are working towards sanitary pads to be free – after all, the government is providing condoms for free. “We step in to assist where we can,” he added.
They have set up a LangaForMen football team where they invite all young boys to be in the same space and teach them about the values of life and how to treat other people.
Besides football, the young boys are taught twice a week about consent, toxic GBV and the patriarchy, and they have noticed a difference since they started.
Lengisi said since the organisation began, it hasn’t been an easy journey for their family members, peers, and neighbours, including Langa as a community.
“People are allergic to change,” he said. It becomes a problem when they are taught how to treat other people. Men feel they are being excluded, even though their aim is for everyone to fight gender-based violence.
“When we hit a nerve, the people we trusted turn against us, but we will continue fighting,” he said.
A resident in Langa applauded the excellent work being done by these young men. She said having an organisation led by young people was motivating because it shows that they have seen the bad things happening to women and children, and for them to take action rather than complaining shows an act of courage. Their kids are also learning a lot from the co-founders, and there is a good chance the community has seen a change in the young boys since they joined #LangaForMen.
