Today we celebrate and commemorate the courage and bravery of the more than 50 000 women who staged a March and stood firmly on the lawns of the Union Buildings in Pretoria in 1956 to protest against the pass laws. It is my view that those women should be viewed as equally if not exceedingly brave as their male counterparts who fought for the Freedom and liberation of the Black people of South Africa.
As we celebrate this day, I think the young women of today should not do so blindly but celebrate it with the intention to draw some serious lessons of wisdom from this history because the reality is that the majority of our young women will be celebrating this day swimming in alcohol, neglecting their duties as daughters, sister, aunts, mothers or even wife’s. It is a known fact that the majority of young women of today have not only lost the moral but also the traditional values of the African Nation. Make no mistake, I am not attacking women but merely trying to bring to the attention of the Nation the reality about how the Black child has lost it.
We acknowledge the fact that the world has changed, the country has attained freedom and it is developing at a rapid rate, therefore things cannot remain the same as they were in 1956. However we also cannot ignore the need to maintain our native values and traditions and if we draw comparisons between the young women of today and the then generation, we see a clear indication of how appalling the situation is. It is a known fact that we have more “morally naked and irresponsible” young women than we can imagine in our society today, and that can be clearly seen if you were to walk the streets of our townships today, Chesa-Nyamas and shebeens will be packed to capacity, we are seeing increased levels of abortions and dumping of children all over the place because the young woman of today cannot keep her legs closed, we see deliberate wrongful accusations of rape against men for extortion purposes (obsession with money), home-made sex videos are mushrooming all over the place because the young African child sees sex as nothing but just an extra-mural activity, we are seeing increased levels of divorces because the young women of today neglect their duties as backbones of their homes and families, we see them increased cases of women murdering their husbands solely to make insurance claims that would see them being elevated to riches overnight (again obsession with money) and many other increased social ills that the women of the then generation easily avoided.
One may argue that the men of today are also party to this loss of values, however the then generation never used this as an excuse, we are told that many of those who marched in 1956 had their children on their backs as they endured that daunting walk, taking full responsibility of not only their children but that of the nation as well, fighting for what was to be a lost-generation that we see today. If we fast forward that Act of bravery and apply it in today’s situation, you would have a young woman leaving her children with either strangers, grand-parents or in the care of other children just to go to a shebeen to celebrate what is today known as “Women’s Day”.
Once again, don’t be mistaken, I am not judging nor am I attacking the black child but merely bringing to the attention of the Nation the appalling situation a young black child is faced with.
We can ask ourselves as to “WHO IS TO BLAME”, Is it the mothers who were born off the 1956 women, is it the 1956 woman herself who did not take responsibility to teach her child or do we solely just blame it all on FREEDOM?.
I think it is irrelevant as to who is to blame but what is rather relevant and important is “HOW DO WE REMEDY THE SITUATION”, how do we ensure that the young African child takes cognisance of the fact that this day is not just about alcohol, drugs and sex, how do we make the young African woman understand the importance of this day, the bravery of the woman that risked her life and marched for Freedom and Equality?
Those with the financial muscle to encourage and give hope to the young woman of South Africa today are neglecting their duty to lend a helping hand to save the now generation, Government, Business, Religious leaders and Civil Society leaders. August is celebrated as a month of the women of South Africa from the 1st to the 31st and in reality what that means is that throughout this month we see Businesses making millions of Rands through hosting meaningless events such as “High-Teas” with expensive music performances in High-places, discussing and whispering sweet nothings into each other’s ears, not even once have we seen any organisation on this day or during this month going down to the Young African child on the ground to try and shift her focus, encourage and give her hope, now this is who I am saying is to “BLAME”. Our Government has budgets set aside to celebrate women’s month but not even a cent of that money goes to encouraging, motivating or landing a helping hand to the Young African Woman on the Ground.
I challenge any business, government agency or civil society organisation to show the Nation what they have done or planning to do for the young African child this month………….
Celebrate this day responsibly African Woman, Happy Women’s Day
#MeditationsOfTheHeart
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