Silent Voices Matter – Critical GBVF Dialogue held

Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF) has been described as the country’s “second pandemic” by President Cyril Ramaphosa, who has reaffirmed government’s commitment to combating the crisis.

In response, the Transformation and Social Cohesion Forum (TSCF) in the Faculty of Business and Management Sciences (FBMS), with the support of the Dean, Prof Mercy Makhitha, recently partnered with the Department of Retail Business Management (RBM), the Wholesale and Retail Sector Education and Training Authority (W&RSETA) and Inclusive and Affirming Ministries (IAM) to host an inclusive and collaborative engagement.

Themed “Silent Voices Matter”, the event brought together faculty staff and representatives from the Western Cape Government’s Department of Health and Wellness at the Cape Town Hotel School in Granger Bay.

Event organisers and TSCF members, Mandie Richards, Senior Lecturer and Chairperson of the forum, and Taryn Kroukamp, Lecturer in the Human Resource Management Department, emphasised that the dialogue aimed to address the often-unheard voices of both women and men. They highlighted that fear, harassment, intimidation and the risk of losing employment frequently silence individuals, underscoring the urgent need for meaningful cultural change within organisations and society.

In her welcoming address, Richards indicated that she was pleased at the positive response of the male colleagues attending, as challenges women face cannot exclude having men at the table to engage critically. She further stated that Institutions of Higher Learning are part of communities and have a responsibility to address GBVF and empower students, and that in the fifteen departments in the faculty, GBVF is a mandatory module for all first-year students.

Richards shared: “Violence seems to be the norm in many of our daily lives, and I do not only refer to physical violence, as the various microaggressions have lasting cumulative impacts. The increase in GBV statistics daily in South Africa is alarming and each day I feel a sense of helplessness, as another murder, another shooting, another suicide, and another too many.”

“A few weeks ago, on my way to work, the news reader on Cape Talk indicated that a 58-year-old woman in Loganberry Street in Bonteheuwel was shot and killed. In the seventies, my family and I were forcibly removed from District Six and moved to Bonteheuwel on the Cape Flats. I lived in Loganberry Street in Bonteheuwel, and I was overcome with a sense of sadness, loss, and grief, as that could have been me, I could have been a statistic.”

Attendees engaged in a World Café facilitated by Thuli Mjwara, Strategic Advocacy Coordinator and Maureen Majola, Facilitator from (IAM). The Café focused on the profound cultural changes required within organisations and society to combat violence. The conversation examined the intersections of power, community values and care, and the need to move from safe spaces to brave spaces. The urgency of the conversation was underscored by statistics from the 2024 Human Science Research Council report, which indicates that 33% of South African women experience violence.

Western Cape on Wellness (WOW) Champions, Salaama Abrahams and Uzebenathi Ngxamile shared the work that they do with youth in Bonteheuwel and Delft respectively, to combat GBV, and a request to collaborate with the FBMS moving forward as the institution is viewed as part of communities.

Siseko Mtetwa, Research Postgraduate Administrator, stated that as a man he wanted to be part of the solution and contribute to the change required to eradicate GBV; whilst Nicolene Pasquallie, a Faculty Office Administrator shared the work she does with youth in her community in Eerste Rivier and was open to learning how to address the challenges encountered.

Dr Faeda Mohsam, Acting Head of the BIA department, shared her experience at a conference she attended in Thailand earlier in the year. “I was paired with participants from Italy and Kazakhstan and requested to discuss a pressing issue prevalent in the country. I immediately raised the issue of Gender Based Violence, as it is a problem throughout the world. The participants in my team indicated that it was a problem which existed in their countries, however people in their countries did not speak openly about GBV.”

Staff shared honestly as to the role GBV played in their lives and communities openly raised their concerns.

Mjwara reminded staff of CPUT’s position statement on GBV and urged staff to reach out and seek support through internal counselling services or external bodies such as the Women’s Legal Centre.

Dr Terence Hermanus, Acting Head of the RBM Department, stated: “We need to take the call for an end to GBV beyond this project and ensure that we work towards contributing to change.”

Richards stated that as the TSCF, they would continue to advocate for the silent voices to be heard as Silent Voices Matter, and it was important that staff and students felt empowered to speak out, so that their voices are heard, and their concerns addressed.

Kroukamp concluded with the following: "As we leave today, let us not leave these conversations behind. Let us take the 'Community of Care' we discussed and put it into practice by reporting violence, seeking help, and supporting one another".

Written by CPUT News
Email: news@cput.ac.za