NW MEC URGES PARENTS TO ACT AGAINST HARMFUL BEHAVIOUR

By Lerato Digoamaje

• A candlelight prayer service was held in Rustenburg, North West, to draw attention to the scourge of gender-based violence and femicide.
• Speaking at the event, the North West MEC for Social Development, Basetsana Sussana Dantjie, cautioned parents and guardians to act against anything that exposes young girls to predatory behaviour and gender-based violence.
•  ⁠“Let us, therefore, take collective responsibility and be vigilant if we are to defeat the social pathologies that torment our communities,” Dantjie said.

North West MEC for Social Development, Basetsana Sussana Dantjie, has cautioned parents and guardians to act against unchecked curfew freedoms, the blesser phenomenon, the misuse of child support grants, and uninvolved parenting, which expose young girls to predatory behaviour and gender-based violence.

Dantjie was addressing residents who attended a solemn candlelight prayer service at the Freedom Park Community Hall near Rustenburg held to draw attention to gender-based violence and femicide.

“Parents should not allow the silent grooming of children,” Dantjie said, adding that when harmful behaviour is ignored at home, social ills become prevalent.

Silence is never neutral

Communities have an indispensable role to play in breaking the cycle of violence, the MEC noted.

“Let us therefore, take collective responsibility and be vigilant if we are to defeat these social pathologies that torment our communities,” Dantjie said.

The MEC urged communities to join hands in the fight against gender-based violence and HIV/Aids.

Representatives from faith-based and non-government organisations, as well as the Executive Mayor of the Rustenburg Local Municipality, government officials, and gender-based violence survivors attended the mass prayer session to show their solidarity towards a zero tolerance of gender-based violence.

The initiative comes in the wake of the government declaring gender-based violence and femicide a national disaster, a move signalling heightened political will and coordinated responses in working towards curbing a growing crisis.

MEC Dantjie also expressed her concern over the trend of survivors withdrawing criminal cases after reporting them to law enforcement authorities. She emphasised that every dismissed case strengthens the vicious cycle – something “we must all confront with honesty”.

During the event, which reverberated with religious songs, the residents lit candles, offered prayers, and reflected on the challenges of gender-based violence and HIV, two socio-cultural ills that devastate households and communities across the communities.

The mass prayer was both a spiritual intervention and a platform for urgent action, calling for communities to unite in preventing abuse and supporting survivors.

Call to action

Gender-based violence survivor and a beneficiary of the Letlhabile Network, Odirile Molefe (not her real name), shared her journey from a violent relationship to recovery and independence.

She now assists women with protection orders and safe exit strategies, demonstrating how local organisations can provide the emotional, practical and financial support necessary for survivors to reclaim agency.

“Through the centre I found the means to support myself, to be independent, and to help others file for protection orders,” she said.

“A healthy support system is vital, but you must also depend on yourself.”

Molefe’s testimony highlighted the importance of financial independence and community support in breaking cycles of abuse and nurturing safe relationships – a message aligned with the department’s action of empowerment and vigilance.

Speakers urged communities to work closely with non-profit organisations supported by the Department of Social Development to ensure timely monitoring, psychosocial support, and rapid interventions, highlighting that community-led action is essential for effective prevention.

A representative from the Networking HIV and Aids Community of Southern Africa (NACOSA), Kgaugelo Nketsing, emphasised that sustainable solutions to both gender-based violence and HIV should be rooted in communities.

Nketsing called on residents to reflect on their roles as a survivor, a victim, a perpetrator or a bystander – or as a conscious participant in creating safer environments.

The gathering also challenged harmful cultural norms that silence male survivors of abuse, urging men to report violence and reject the expectation that they must be unshakeable in the face of harm.