Pretoria - For a very long time men have been quiet; how many times have we heard women scream from next-door and decided to sleep?” asked Kholofelo Masha during a march against the abuse of women in Pretoria on Saturday.
Masha, one of the organisers of the march, was addressing hundreds of people at Church Square at the start of the #NotInMyName campaign. There men came together to declare they had had enough of violence and abuse against women in their communities.
The march had the support of men and women, and among the participants were bikers and Mini Cooper drivers.
Masha said they wanted women to know that they could depend on them. “We are taking our stand in society, we are restoring our dignity, we are taking our name higher and we're letting our sisters and women know that they can count on us.”
Protesters marched from Church Square to the Union Buildings, led by a performance artist #FollowTheLadyinWhite, a rope around her neck, carrying a flag and an old suitcase.
She was said to represent all women who have been abused and suffered cruelty of men.
Patrick Mabasa from Mamelodi said he attended the march to prove that not all men were trash. “I just want to show women that there are some real men left in this country, and we are willing to protect them.”
Mabasa said what was done to their sisters (rape and murder) was disgusting and only cowardly men did such things.
“No real man rapes or kills a woman; a real man understands when a woman says ‘no’ or ‘it’s over’.
“Men who do these horrible things to our mothers and sisters are nothing but cowards,” he shouted.
Rasuge, Dolly, Reeva, Anene, Ite, Karabo, Bongeka and Popi were some of the names written on placards carried by the protesters, all commemorated on the day.
Among many speakers who condemned violence of women was Bukelwa Moerane, 24, who was abducted in February.
Bukelwa Moerane recounts her ordeal. Video: Virgilatte Gwangwa
She said she had been about to cross the road to Baragwanath taxi rank when a man grabbed her from the behind and forced her into a car.
“He threatened to kill me if I thought of doing anything ‘stupid’, and he drove off with me,” she said.
While the man was driving, he swore at her and vowed to rape and kill her while constantly calling her names. “When I got the chance, I got out of the moving car and ran for my life.
“But I saw him make a U-turn and I hid in the bushes, then started running again,” she said. Moerane said she was she was only assisted when she got to a petrol station but, unfortunately, the assailant got away.
She asked that the movement not end on the day of the march but that men stick to their word to protect women at all times.
“Not in my name, forward with women and down with women abuse,” were some of the words chanted along the route to the Union Buildings. ‘Man up’, ‘no means no’, ‘stop rape’, ‘her life matters’ and ‘would you rape your own mother?’ were some slogans on the placards carried.
Organisers asked for a moment of silence to honour all women who had died at the hands of evil men.