By Ntwenhle Hadebe
On 17 August 2019, there was a 1st Annual Career Exhibition at Imbali Unit 14 Community Hall. This event was created by Luyanda Meyiwa and his colleagues to provide information and knowledge about careers offered by various institutions as well as development for learners. They invited community FET colleges and universities to give more information on career prospects.
It is women’s month, but in Sekhukhune, South Africa, we still see things that will break your heart. It is on 8 August 2019 just a few hours before Women’s Day but lack of water forced a local woman at Sekhukhune to go and do washing at Semene river. While other women enjoy the 9 August 2019, she will be tired as a result of spending the whole day from taking the water from the river using a bucket, pouring into the washing basins, washing the clothes and collecting the water again to rinse the clothes and she is few meters from the river to wash without disturbances from animals.
She won’t be able to hang the clothes on the smaller trees to dry but will have to take them home while wet and she walks a distance from the river. Some of the cows that drink water from the river eat clothes and there is dust on the trees since August is not a raining month in Sekhukhune. She won’t celebrate women’s day like others because having no water makes her life difficult.
A two-day youth consultation workshop was coordinated by the UN South Africa to discuss the challenges, gaps, and recommendations towards the National Development Plan (NDP) 7 pillars from the youth perspective. Robust and constructive conversations took place whereby exploring different channels that the youth of SA could use to work towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), 2030 Agenda. However, a recommendation was that the young people should embrace the ‘NOTHING FOR US, WITHOUT US” mantra m
The Pietermaritzburg Agency Community Social Action (PACSA), working within uMgungundlovu Municipality has launched its new Youth programme, called the Youth Street Survivors program.
The launch event was held on the 20th of June 2019, at the Mandela Park in the east of the Pietermaritzburg CBD. “I am happy with this level of attendance .The main intention is not to have the initiative only to be the initiative of June month, but everything we will be doing in all activities we must be able to say next year this time, here is a street survivor who has been able to make it to the mainstream of society and various spaces”, said Nqabakazi Mathe the PACSA Director YSS launch.
PACSA created a safe space where the youth living on the street can meet and share the ideas on problems facing them. The organisation has dedicated their efforts towards the information dissemination among the youth, towards the creation of platforms for networking.
“Nothing about us without us”, during the launch the streets survivors shared their stories, citing their daily struggles and their wishes for the future. “We are misunderstood, not all of us are pick-pocketing around the streets, and some of us are earning a living by helping carry groceries to the taxi ranks, wash cars, and fetch water for the taxi drivers. In the streets we are the victims of brutal violence if someone lost anything they come beat us up, without any clarity of whether was it me or whoever, we bear the blame that we are often not responsible for. Sometimes they burn our blankets” Nhlakanipho the YSS sharing his story at the launch. Some of them were looking for ways to stop using drugs, to which they are now addicted to.
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(YSS playing soccer and netball with members of PACSA’s community partners/groups)
During the launch soccer, netball, teambuilding and board games were played by the community representatives, together with the YSS; the aim was to create mutual beneficial relations amongst the community and the youth street survivors. The YSS appreciated the initiative, to be able to get the rare opportunity to just have fun. They expressed that they were happy to take part in all the activities of the day. At the end of the launch, they were given clothes, blankets that had been donated by various organizations, businesses, individuals and by the Department of Sport and recreation.
PACSA have highlighted that these young people are a manifestation of the socio-economic problems that they experienced together with their families in the communities that has led to their marginalization. They are defenseless victims of brutal violence, sexual exploitation and sex tourism, abject neglect, chemical addiction, human trafficking and human rights violations. PACSA believes that urgent interventions are needed to reintegrate them with their communities and families.
Youth in the streets face a systematic discrimination and are at higher risk of being harmed and are denied a voice. Advocacy is at the hearts of our mission to build a world that protects and respects the youth who are at risk. We seek to journey with them, so that they may be able to advocate for themselves and to make sure they are listened to.
By PACSA Team
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Donated blankets
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Attendees of the YSS launch
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On the whole, Southern African countries have made strides in uplifting women and girls in their countries. Despite this progress, Gender Based Violence (GBV) still remains unacceptably high. Research shows marked increases in domestic, emotional, economic and sexual violence across the region in recent years, with countries such as Angola, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, DRC, South Africa and Swaziland among the worst (Gender Links, 2013). Namibia, Swaziland, South Africa and Zimbabwe recently reported epidemic levels of femicide.
Gender based violence is multidimensional and is rooted in the patriarchal nature of Southern African society and related gender power inequalities. Religion is often used to perpetuate patriarchal behaviour, using scriptural texts to justify outdated cultural practices that normalise SGBV. The intersection of patriarchal religious and cultural norms can mean that the very institutions where women seek healing and solace turn out to be toxic spaces of violence and further abuse. On the other hand, in a context where over 80% of the population are registered
as Christian, churches potentially have the power to reach massive sections of the population with non-patriarchal transformative ‘good news’.
Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) and the ongoing HIV epidemic in South Africa are symptoms of a deeply wounded society driven by socio-cultural and religious belief systems that promote domination, control and stigma. Tragically, these toxic dogmas continue to undermine the redemptive ideals of the democratic constitution and its vision of inclusivity and freedom from unfair discrimination based on race, creed, ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation.
The focus on revisiting accepted religious and social teachings and practices is based on the conviction that SGBV will never be overcome unless the faith sector’s negative influence on individual and socio-cultural assumptions is countered by a more life-giving influence grounded in an emerging liberatory and contextual African approach to doing theology together with ordinary people.
It was a decision from the first Solidarity Hub to create a platform for activists and community members to tell their stories of struggle without filter. ACT Ubumbano created an App and Website that carries these stories, and hopefully amplifies the voice of those who experience the brunt of injustice and exploitation. The Ubumbano Voice App is freely available for download, and the website is www.ubumbanovoice.com.
This platform has attracted the interest of the Dobsonville Advice Office in Soweto and its partners, and they have convened an initial training session to get their network members to participate in getting the word out. From the training they have already collected a range of stories that can be accessed by clicking here.
In Durban, the Phephisa movement of survivors of gender-based violence convened a training session that generated great eagerness to use the platform not just for telling stories, but for advocacy as well.
If any community – geographic or otherwise – is interested in using this platform in their work, please get in touch with the office at ashley@actubumbano.org.
The 2019 ACT Ubumbano Solidarity Hub took place on 21-23 May in Johannesburg. 67 participants from community organisations, NGOs, FBOs and churches used the SEE JUDGE ACT method of social analysis to explore the theme “Environmental Justice – a Question of Survival”.
The Hub began with a sharing of experiences of environmental injustices in different communities. For many it was the first time having a deep reflection about what climate change and environmental degradation means for them and their communities. This laid the basis for a discussion on the systemic drivers of injustice, of an economic system that only thrives on more and more consumption at the expense of our natural ecosystems. This challenged participants to explore how their own practices either challenge or maintain these destructive social, political and economic structures, and through some difficult conversations to look deeply at what needs to change in their own work.
Feedback from participants confirmed that the Solidarity Hub and the approach of using critical review of practice methodologies is an important new feature in the social justice landscape. This is evidenced in the evaluation comments that said that “the process forces us to think critically and deeper”, and that we must “continue to provide the ‘liberated’ space for organising and reflecting”. The Hub takes a deliberate approach of “focusing a solid amount of time on reflection rather than just talking about what we do.”
ACT Ubumbano consciously creates space for voices not usually heard. In the 2019 Solidarity Hub, 52% of participants were women. 17% were under 30 years of age, while a further 23% were in their forties. The effect of this was a conversation that was lively and challenging, and that will shape the action plans of ACT Ubumbano into the future.
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[av_heading heading='Multi-Faith Meeting Discusses Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights' tag='h2' link_apply='' link='manually,http://' link_target='' style='blockquote modern-quote modern-centered' size='' subheading_active='subheading_below' subheading_size='30' margin='' margin_sync='true' padding='10' color='' custom_font='' av-medium-font-size-title='' av-small-font-size-title='' av-mini-font-size-title='' av-medium-font-size='' av-small-font-size='' av-mini-font-size='' av_uid='av-jwiwy9yh' admin_preview_bg='']
20 – 22 May 2019
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20 – 22 May 2019
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ACT Ubumbano in collaboration with Gender Links convened a multi-faith meeting to discuss Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights (SRHR) 20-22 May.
Participants were drawn from networks of ACT Alliance Southern Africa Regional Forum and the SRHR Alliance partners, from nine southern African countries, Botswana, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Delegates were made up of representatives from individual congregations, umbrella bodies of Christian churches, representatives from other faiths in the region such as the Bahai, Islam and African traditional religions.
The workshop theme was “ Moving from Faith to Action” with the aim of showcasing the work and experiences of faith leaders in the spaces of SRHR. Faith-based institutions and networks have inherent power and exert influence as policymakers and civil society leaders as they uphold religious doctrines and practices. Religion has a unique power of tackling structural issues, transforming gender and power relations, norms and values, is critical to ending poverty and challenging inequality. The role of religion as a driver of positive change towards social justice was also discussed. The participants agreed that concerted efforts have to be made towards engaging religious leaders and institutions for positive change and upholding human rights, gender equality and just communities.
The three days were punctuated with lively discussions, disagreements as well as reflections on SRHR themes and approaches. The workshop assisted to identify common SRHR themes and challenges for further learning and dialogue. The workshop revealed information gaps in SRHR knowledge and provided ideas on how ACT Ubumbano, Gender Links and other partners can assist faith leaders reach other peers.
Faith leaders worked through advocacy strategies for appropriate messaging to influence national policies. This was important to support interventions that keep children at school and reduce the incidences of girl children’s vulnerability to teenage pregnancy and child marriage. The religious leaders also considered a way forward that includes addressing issues of early child marriage, girls’ access to affordable sanitary wear; SGBV and provide compassionate accompaniment to survivors of GBV and those battling with addiction. The meeting was appreciated as an important and frank multi-faith space to deal with issues of sexual reproductive health rights.
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