Free State Premier, Sisi Ntombela has called on boys to be the first line of defence against anyone who abuses women and children.
Addressing young boys at the cave of Mme Mantsopa on Sunday, she calls on them to be activists against any form of violence in their communities.
Ntombela was speaking at the Provincial launch of the 16 days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence and Femicide campaign in Modderpoort.
The Premier encourages them to resist the temptation of taking drugs and a life of crime, irrespective of how close and respected that person may be.
The Free State Provincial Government has invited over 200 boys as well as men to engage with them and to get a conversation going wherein change can be cultivated.
The programme was centred on the education of boys and men. The Provincial Government’s Director General, Kopung Ralikontsane says they are worried about violence against women and children in communities.
“We are very worried, very worried. A number of cases are happening across the entire Province. We are hoping that district interventions by our gender-based violence officers will assist with those programs to continue to campaign for the protection of women for the safety of children across the Province. It’s worrying that boys are attacking their mothers, attacking their grandmothers, some of them committing heinous crimes that we are unable to describe,” explains Ralikontsane.
