Johannesburg - Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga says she was trying to encourage pupils to be educated about gender-based violence when she made her ‘educated man won’t rape’ comment at a Pretoria high school on Monday.
Motshekga was speaking to pupils at Pretoria’s Prospectus High School on Monday when her remarks stunned the audience of matric pupils.
The former ANC Women’s League president said: “This government has prioritized education because it knows that it is only through education that we can deal with some of the challenges that are here, because an educated man won’t rape akere (right).
“Or do they, I thought they need to be a bit civilised not to do certain things. Now I am disappointed.
“But they don’t do other things, neh? [They do],” said Motshekga.
She added: “So my theory that the more educated you are, the more sophisticated you are, the less you get involved in wrong things because you can look after yourself, you can look after your family, you can look after your environment”.
On social media, Motshekga was slammed for the comments.
Motshekga responded with a statement saying her comments had been taken out of context.
The minister expressed concern at the media commentary on her comments.
“The comments were made in relation to gender-based violence, she said.
“Rape is indeed about power, hence the department has programmes to educate the boy child to appreciate the importance of how to deal with power relations between men and women from a young age.
“Therefore, my remarks must not be taken out of the context of educating children to develop them to become better people.
“Men need to be educated about how to deal with power, patriarchy and negative or toxic masculinity. Educating men about power relations is also important in the fight against rape,” she said.
Motshekga also dealt with the negative reaction of pupils’ to her comments about educated men not raping.
“I was not going to debate because the purpose of my remarks was to encourage them to be educated on GBV including educating them about women abuse,” she said.
She has not apologised for the comments.
IOL