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DJ Tira to miss Boys to Men Empowerment Conference

Dj Tira
Dj Tira
Image: Gallo Images / Oupa Bopape

Music producer DJ Tira who was scheduled to speak at this year’s Boys to Men Empowerment Conference on July 30 has pulled out due to other engagements.

The conference that seek to mould young boys to be better men and talk to men about issue of gender-based violence will take place virtually and it starts at 6pm. Speakers of the day includes premier of KwaZulu-Natal Sihle Zikalala, Future Leaders SA founder Victor Sibeko, life coach for Boys to Men Bishop Mpendulo Nkambule, Loxion Kulca founder Wandi Nzimande and author and motivational speaker Sibusiso Molimi.

Born Mthokozisi Khathi, the deejay told SowetanLIVE that he was no longer part of the programme.

“I’m no longer part of the conference due to other engagements and I was speaking to the organisers this morning about that.”

Sibeko, who is the organiser, confirmed to Sowetan that they have replaced DJ Tira with Nzimande.

“We realised that he had other engagements, but he has been supporting the concept since it started; we still want him to send us recording, motivating our young people.”

According to Sibeko, the Boys to Men Empowerment Conference will discuss various issues like the important of respect, what to do when one has a girlfriend and how to start a business as a teenager.

Sibeko explained they decided to play a role in fighting gender-based violence and not let the government deal with the issue alone.

“The plan is to mould these young men who are still going to be boyfriends and husbands, who might find themselves in a situation where they harass others or being harassed. We said let’s find men who have done well to assist us in this.”

“This time our focus, other than developmental issues, will be what exactly goes into a man’s mind especially during this Covid-19 with lots of frustration. We look at how do we communicate and show compassion. For example, as a young boy how do you speak to your sister. We will be looking at various angles and we say even if you have been exposed to violence, do not try it as a young man. We have neglected a boy child for too long, we need to assist our boys. We are trying to root out the old culture that men or boys do not cry. They have to cry like others because they bottle a lot of pain and anger.”

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