Chairperson, there is no doubt that the national democratic society that the ANC seems to bring about will be characterised by freedom from fear and want. The fear and want we are fighting to change is partly a bad heritage of the past. We must attack these two evils at their roots with all the energies at our disposal.
Women and children are principal sufferers of this scourge. The campaign of no violence against women and children helps us all in these Houses of Parliament and elsewhere in the country, and the world, to focus on the work that must be done to rid society, once and for all, of such violence. It affects directly the poor and the rich, but clearly poverty exacerbates vulnerability. Whilst it is true that this matter has become a societal matter, profound changes in the nature of society will bring about better results and we can, at an individual level, bring about serious changes for the better without waiting any longer. It is for this reason that this year's call to mobilise men is appropriate without slackening one bit of effort to resocialise women and children to be their own liberators.
It is this pillar of the national democratic struggle to entrench a human rights culture, and a belief by people that they are their own liberators, that makes this campaign such a crucial one. Campaign work requires lots of patience, painstaking persuasion, mobilisation and organisation of communities, to have any significant impact. In fact, the resources government is putting into this, is very appropriate. It requires constant research work and gathering of knowledge, to understand better the root causes of these scourges. By managing the stakeholders from all walks of society behind this campaign, government has demonstrated the power of working together across boundaries.
This war to reclaim our neighbourhoods, homes, schools and places of work, must be reinvigorated, so that as we said, women, children and all of us, must be free to walk about or run around without fear. Our liberation will remain an unfinished business if we do not achieve this objective.
Setho se re: "Motho ke motho ka batho". Haholoholo banna le bashemane ke bona ba ka tlisang phaphang e kgolo ha ba ka kena letsholong la ho fedisa tshebediso ya dikgoka le tlatlapo ho batho ba bomme, banana le ho bana. Ba bileng teng pele ho rona ke ka hona ba neng ba re: "Pharela ha e hlole banna". E ka ba ntho e ntle ha re ka itshupa ka dipuo, ka diketso le ka metsamao hore re utlwisisa ka botlalo tlhompho e tshwanetseng bomme, banana le bana jwalo ka theho ya setjhaba se motlotlo.
Kgotso e keke ya rena ka hare ho metse ya rona ha feela ho ntse ho na le batho bao re iphaphanyang bona le ha ba tsebahala ka dikgoka le tlatlapo. Re tlameha ho bontsha ba ntseng ba hola hore di teng ditsela tsa ho amana le batho tse sa hlokeng bokgopo bo sebediswang ka dikgoka. Dikolong le mekgathlong e teng ka hare ho setjhaba re tshwanetse ho ruta ditsela tse nepahetseng tsa ho kenya maikutlo taolong, hobane ha maikutlo a lahleha, hona ho isa tshebedisong ya dikgoka. Ha re ka ntlafatsa thuto, kgudiso e ntlafatsang kutlwisiso le taolo ya maikutlo, re tla be re jala peo ya phediso ya tshebediso ya dikgoka le ditlatlapo.
Makgotla a Melao, tsamaiso ya ditjhankane, seponesa le ba ditshebeletso tsa ntshetsopele ba tshwanela ho ba le tshebedisanommoho e tiileng. Ka tsela ena ba leng molato ba tla tlalehwa hore molao o sebetsane le bona ka potlako, ka ditsela tse tla tiisang hore ha ba kgutlele mekgweng ya bona e mebe, hore ba tlalehileng le bona ba tshwarehe ka tsela e nang le tlhompho.
Phephetso e kgolo ke ya ho qeta bofuma, hobane le bona bo jala bora ho babang ka hara metse. Tshebediso ya tahi le dithethefatsi le yona e na le tshusumetso e kgolo tshebedisong ya dikgoka le tlatlapo. Batho ha ba se ba tahilwe ha ba sa na kelello, seo ba se bonang ke tshebediso ya dikgoka le tlatlapo feela.
Moruo-kgodumodumo le ona o jetse meharo e bakang hore batho ba sebedise ditsela dife kapa dife ho fihlela maemo a phahameng, mme hona le hona ke tshebediso ya dikgoka. Ka mantswe a mang re tshwanetse ho shebana le moruo- kgodumodumo ona re bone hore na re ka etsa jwang hore re kgutlise botho ka hara setjhaba sohle seo re phelang le sona le dinaheng tse ding.
Hara ditsela tsena tse teng tsa kutlwisiso le tshebedisano e ntle ka hara setjhaba ke tsona feela tse tla thibelang tshebediso ya dikgoka le tlatlapo ho batho ba bomme, banana le bana. Ka borona jwalo ka ha re dutse mona, mosebetsi oo re nang le ona moo re sebetsang teng ke ona o moholo wa ho thusa ho hlohleletsa bohle ba nang le boetapele le kutlwisiso ya mosebetsi ona ho tiisa mosebetsi oo ba tshwanetseng ho o etsa.
Ha se mmuso o ka kgonang ho fedisa Bohloko bona bo teng ka hara setjhaba, empa ke mmuso le babang ka hara setjhaba ba ipopileng jwalo ka mekgatlo ya dipolotiki, basebetsi, baahi metseng moo ba dulang teng. Ke ka bona re ka tiisang hore re tswela pele mme ebile re a atleha letsholong lena. Ha hona ka mokgwa oo re ka reng re se re qetile re se re fihlile, mme tokoloho e teng, empa ho ntse ho na le batho ba llang hobane malapeng a bona ho sebediswa dikgoka mme ba dula ba lla ba lliswa ke tlatlapo ya mofuta ona. Ntwa ya rona ya boitseko ba tokoloho e tla be e sa fella ha re soka re qeta mosebetsi o moholo ha kana. Ke a leboha Modulasetulo. (Translation of Sesotho paragraphs follows.)
[In our culture we say, "No man is an island", especially men and boys. They are the ones who can bring about a lot of difference if they can be part of the campaign to end the use of violence and abuse against women, girls and children. Those who came before us used to say, "There is no problem that cannot be solved". It would be good if we could show through our speech, actions and behavior that we fully understand the respect that women, girls and children deserve as the basis of a proud nation.
There can never be peace in our communities as long as we are pretending not to notice the people who are known for violence and abuse. We have to show those who are still growing up that there are ways of interacting with people that do not need cruelty in the form of violence. At schools and in community organisations, we have to teach the right ways of controlling emotions, because when control of emotions is lost, this leads to the use of violence. If we can improve education, child-rearing that improves understanding and emotional control, we will be planting a seed to curb the use of violence and abuse. The courts of law, correctional services, SAPS and social development have to co-operate fully. In this way the suspects will be reported so that the law can deal with them immediately in ways that will ensure that they do not go back to their wayward ways, so that the victims should be treated with dignity.
A major challenge is to eradicate poverty because it also causes extreme animosity in communities. Alcohol and drug abuse are perceived to make a major contribution to the use of violence and abuse. When people are drunk they become senseless, the only solution that they see is the use of violence and abuse.
The scourge of poverty has ploughed greed that causes people to resort to any means to attain a high social status, therefore, this is also a use of violence. In other words we have to deal with this scourge of poverty in order to see what we can do to bring back humanity to the rest of the communities that we live in as well as in other countries.
Among the available means, understanding and co-operation within the community are the only ways that can prevent the use of violence and abuse against women, girls and children. Even as we sit here, the duty that we have in our constituencies is a huge one of influencing everyone who is in a position of leadership and has an understanding of this duty to be committed to the work that they are supposed to do. It is not only the government that can eradicate this scourge that exists within the communities, but it is the government together with others in the community who have organised themselves into political organisations, workers, members of the community in the areas where they live. It is through them that we can ensure that we continue and succeed in this campaign.
There is no way that we can say we have finished or we have arrived and that freedom is here, and yet there are still people who are suffering because there is violence in their homes and therefore they are always crying as a result of this kind of abuse. Our struggle for freedom shall have been incomplete if we have not done this enormous task. I thank you, Chairperson. ]