NUMSA says gender-based violence is a pandemic which this generation must defeat
20 August 2022
The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) in the Northern Cape and Free State held a meeting with female leaders of the union titled “Women in Leadership”. The meeting was an opportunity for women from all over the region who are leaders working in various sectors within NUMSA, to come together in order to discuss ways to organize and empower each other as part of the ongoing celebration of Women’s’ Month.
The meeting was chaired by the Regional Deputy Chairperson of the Northern Cape and Free State Region, comrade Grace Mosokotsoane. In her opening address, comrade Grace shared a deeply personal story about her own experiences with Gender Based Violence in her own family and the impact this had. She went to great lengths to emphasize the importance of fighting the scourge, and she encouraged women who are in abusive relationships to seek help and take steps to leave the relationship.
At the gathering women were addressed by noteworthy leaders including comrade Lerato Pitso the convener of YNITU in the Northern Cape and the Free State who reminded women who were gathered in the meeting that women are powerful and that they should believe more in themselves. She encouraged them to be brave and to explore educational and career opportunities in order to develop themselves in whichever field or career they have chosen.
Comrade Zikhona Kunene from Pan Africanism Today (PAT) gave a very insightful and informative presentation on patriarchy and how the capitalist system is structured to objectify and exploit women. She also made suggestions on how women in communities can organize themselves better in order to fight against the system.
Mam’ Zandile Nsibande a veteran in community struggles from Abahlali baseMjondolo, spoke about the unity of women. She spoke about relationships and encouraged women not to surrender all their power to men. Her advice for rape victims was extremely helpful and informative.
Thembelihle Bongwana the Provincial Manager of the Commission for Gender Equality in the Northern Cape spoke about patriarchy and how women in leadership are often undermined. She outlined that the government has been very slow in transforming the workplace so that a greater number of women participate in leadership roles in organizations and companies.
The NUMSA 2nd Deputy President comrade Puleng Phaka delivered the keynote address. She spoke about how women stood firm on the 9th of August 1956 to oppose and reject the Dompas system which was part of the brutal Apartheid system. Comrade Phaka spoke about how Gender based violence is a pandemic which this generation must defeat.
“What they fought for was the challenges of 1956. Today our challenge is gender based violence. Today our challenge is different from 1956. That one has been overcome, some of us are having smart cards but we are not asked to produce it when we are walking around. But what we need to do is to make sure that we hold hands and fight this pandemic called Gender based violence.”
The 2nd Deputy President went on to say that genuine love is not abusive and does not result in pain and suffering for the other party.
“Love cannot be instilled by a person hitting you. If we are still saying for him to show me that he loves me he must beat me, there is no such. A person that loves you must respect you, and they must take care of you and protect you. That’s a person that loves you.”
The session ended with members resolving to hold more meetings of this nature in order to unpack all of the daily struggles that women face in a hostile capitalist society, and to find ways to build solidarity in order to fight against the brutal system.
Issued by Phakamile Hlubi-Majola, NUMSA National Spokesperson, 20 August 2022
