This reminds me of the song Where did we go wrong? by Stimela
YESTERDAY South Africans celebrated Women's Day.
Many went to stadiums to listen to eloquent speeches and endless promises by politicians who remind me of the Xitsonga lullaby, Xikukwana etlela vurongo, loosely translated as don't worry, everything will be all right.
Writing about Women's Day reminds me of Sundays when I went to church. After the service I went to hang out with one of my favourite church mates, old Aunty Lisa* (name changed to protect her identity).
She likes telling me about her life experiences, which make me learn a thing or two.
One Sunday she told me how her six-year-old granddaughter was nearly raped by a boy from the neighbourhood. Fortunately, old Aunty Lisa had heard the screams and rescued the poor little soul.
On this particular Sunday she told me that someone was raped at night in her backyard by five men. No one came out of their shacks except one brave young man - who was subsequently killed for his courage.
This happened in the notorious Waldecedean in Kraaifontein, Cape Town, where two police constables were recently killed in cold blood while on patrol.
This is where I saw a woman come to church with two children, one of school-going age (7 or 8 years old), but who does not go to school. After the woman was given food and clothes by the church people, she went away. A church member then told us that the woman lived with a man who does not work.
Together with the children they live on a government grant. To augment this, the woman begs for food, with the children. Then she takes the food to the unemployed "head of the family".
My heart bleeds profusely as I write. I think of comrades George Wauchope, Tshifhiwa Muofhe, Steven Biko and many other martyrs of our beautiful Azania. How would they feel if they knew what is happening in the Azania that they sacrificed their lives for?
My heart bleeds when I think of all the children in the Kraaifontein area and all the other areas where black people live. What type of future do they have. What kind of adults will they be? What value system will they have? In a country where women and children are no longer protected by fathers and brothers.
This reminds me of the song Where did we go wrong? by Stimela,
Martin Luther King said: "The most problematic person is not the one who oppresses others, but the one who keeps silent when others are oppressed."
- The writer works for the Office of the Chief State Law Adviser in the Cape Town office and writes in her personal capacity.
Women's Day is just another day for the poor
This reminds me of the song Where did we go wrong? by Stimela
YESTERDAY South Africans celebrated Women's Day.
Many went to stadiums to listen to eloquent speeches and endless promises by politicians who remind me of the Xitsonga lullaby, Xikukwana etlela vurongo, loosely translated as don't worry, everything will be all right.
Writing about Women's Day reminds me of Sundays when I went to church. After the service I went to hang out with one of my favourite church mates, old Aunty Lisa* (name changed to protect her identity).
She likes telling me about her life experiences, which make me learn a thing or two.
One Sunday she told me how her six-year-old granddaughter was nearly raped by a boy from the neighbourhood. Fortunately, old Aunty Lisa had heard the screams and rescued the poor little soul.
On this particular Sunday she told me that someone was raped at night in her backyard by five men. No one came out of their shacks except one brave young man - who was subsequently killed for his courage.
This happened in the notorious Waldecedean in Kraaifontein, Cape Town, where two police constables were recently killed in cold blood while on patrol.
This is where I saw a woman come to church with two children, one of school-going age (7 or 8 years old), but who does not go to school. After the woman was given food and clothes by the church people, she went away. A church member then told us that the woman lived with a man who does not work.
Together with the children they live on a government grant. To augment this, the woman begs for food, with the children. Then she takes the food to the unemployed "head of the family".
My heart bleeds profusely as I write. I think of comrades George Wauchope, Tshifhiwa Muofhe, Steven Biko and many other martyrs of our beautiful Azania. How would they feel if they knew what is happening in the Azania that they sacrificed their lives for?
My heart bleeds when I think of all the children in the Kraaifontein area and all the other areas where black people live. What type of future do they have. What kind of adults will they be? What value system will they have? In a country where women and children are no longer protected by fathers and brothers.
This reminds me of the song Where did we go wrong? by Stimela,
Martin Luther King said: "The most problematic person is not the one who oppresses others, but the one who keeps silent when others are oppressed."
- The writer works for the Office of the Chief State Law Adviser in the Cape Town office and writes in her personal capacity.