Communications Minister Nomvula Mokonyane has called on women to take a stance and say no to women and child abuse.
“No man has a right to define me, no man has a right to silence me, and no man has a right to abuse me,” Mokonyane told church members at the St Monica Catholic Church in Daveyton, after attending a Holy Mass on Sunday.
The Minister visited the church to give a talk in honour of Women’s Month – “Role of women in the community”.
“When you hurt my body as a priest, as a principal or a politician, you are hurting your creator. When you rape me at the age of 2, when you abuse me at the age of 12, and take my pension money at the age of 65, you are hurting God. Once you hurt me, once you hurt your child, and once you hurt your neighbour’s child, you are hurting God,” Mokonyane said.
The Minister urged the congregation to seek divine intervention so that no one must be identified and found violating the right of any woman.
“We must live our faith, walk our faith and be an exemplary to our own communities. We need to attend to issues affecting young people.
“Never assume there’s a dustbin for a child. No parent gives birth to a child and want them to smoke nyaope, rob a bank, or become useless in life. We need to have family structures,” the Minister said.
Honouring Mama Sisulu
Paying tribute to Mama Albertina Sisulu, Mokonyane said Sisulu took care of them when they were in prison and took care of them during their pregnancies.
“Some of us were in prison, giving birth alone, but the woman who made us to be strong was Albertina Sisulu. After we arrived in prison, seeing that we were highly pregnant, she told us to persevere because this is … the struggle, it’s not a bed of roses. [Mama Sisulu] is a woman we must celebrate.
“In many instances, woman in South Africa and the world over, celebrate our good deeds when we are no more. We want the world and South Africa to celebrate Mama Sisulu, who would have been a 100 years old today,” the Minister said.
Parish Priest Father Mathews Ouma Opiyo said that women and children are the least respected people in society.
“We need to uplift, support and work together with women,” Father Opiyo said, adding that there is a need to revive families and teach children to love at a tender age, so that they learn to persevere when things go wrong.
Church member Mmapula Mohube, who thanked Mokonyane for visiting and speaking at their small Perish, told SAnews that the Minister encouraged them to take care of each other and forgive one another.