Johannesburg - Driving the Amatyma movement with businessman Thato “TT” Mbha is musician Tebogo “Edward Billion” Lerole, who has taken it upon himself to help curb the scourge of gender-based violence.
Amatyma is a platform for men to connect as brothers, fathers, partners and as men, and this interview forms part of a series of articles by Sunday Independent, in partnership with Amatyma, to get men to start talking about issues that affect them in broader society.
South African society is currently grappling with the scourge of gender-based violence (GBV) and there is pressure on men to step up and help educate other men about the importance of treating women with respect and to refrain from abusing them.
Lerole is one of the men who have taken it upon themselves to do something to help stop GBV. He established Mzansi Act Now – a non-profit company (NPC) – after the gruesome murder of Tshegofatso Pule in Roodepoort two years ago.
Situated in Sandown, Johannesburg, the NPC has been established to create safe spaces for women and children while educating men about violence against women and femicide.
“Our key focus as Mzansi Act Now is gender-based violence and femicide. I feel it is important for us as men to have these conversations because of the experiences that the older men or generations of men before us had,” he said Lerole.
In his discussion with Mbha on the Amatyma podcast, Lerole spoke about financial, and physical wealth, as well as the importance of fatherhood.
“This thing called life has no manual. There’s no ‘methodology’ to it, which means we all impart our knowledge from past experiences and learn from some of the people who’ve done it better than us.
“It is imperative for us as men to speak out and share experiences where we can. Sharing your story could help improve someone else’s behaviour as to how they view the opposite gender. This is not just in relation to women, but we’ve got the LGBTQI+ community who are forever marginalised.”
Lerole pointed out that most men are taught from a young age not to cry, but he advised that crying is important as it is how one lets out pain.
“And how you let out your pain could be talking to someone and sharing experiences with them and learning from each other. We need the Amatyma movement to thrive in order to educate, empower and impart skills.
“These are skills that can be imparted to someone as old as I am, and to someone as young as10 years of age because it is key to educate young boys and men, because we have patriarchal laws that are affecting (negatively) thousands of women.”
He strongly believes there is no world that can be run by men only, saying the experience and skills of women are needed.
“We need to reshape and restructure our households. Gone are the days when boys are sent to play in the streets and girls are told to do house chores. Opportunities are available for us equally and for us to learn and keep on learning is crucial in this day and age. We all need to learn how to get our finances in order and share ideas on how we can get into business.”
Lerole said he tries his best to instil values in his daughter and two nephews by speaking to them about the realities of life.
“Sadly, my father did not impart as much knowledge to me. We didn’t have hard-hitting conversations with him about the reality of life. I am strict with my daughter about getting an education and honing herself as a respected young lady. We need to allow our children to see the world and learn things on their own,” he said.
On how he works on his mental health, Lerole said having conversations with oneself can be healing.
“I’ve gone through a lot in life and I guess age, wisdom and maturity help a lot because it teaches you how to handle difficult situations.”
He invited the corporate sector to join their organisation in the fight against GBV and femicide.
“We want corporate spaces to be safe spaces. We want our country to be holistically turned into a safe space and we can only get to this point in life if everyone puts this agenda on their lips.
“The President called GBV the second pandemic in our country, the first being Covid-19. We want to challenge the government and the corporate sector to make sure that women are given opportunities as we want economic empowerment for them.”