20 Apr 2017

Kgosi Mosadi of Balete says leaders have to play a leading role in raising awareness on some of the challenges facing communities.

Speaking during a consultative meeting organised for Balete royals by Ms Keabonye Ntsabane Gender Based Violence Trust at Ramotswa kgotla recently, she said leaders should be at the forefront of fighting gender based violence and other social ills.

Kgosi Mosadi said issues of gender based violence such as murder, killing of women and domestic violence continue to haunt the society.

She further regretted that such issues affected mostly women and added that some women had their children abused by men who end up impregnating them.

She expressed the need for women to be empowered as that would reduce their vulnerability to issues of gender based violence.

She encouraged community leaders to encourage their communities to take care of their children and grow them into responsible citizens who shun violence.

For her part, Ms Keabonye Ntsabane, founder of Keabonye Ntsabane Gender Based Violence Trust said after retiring from her job she decided to form a trust that would be able to help the community.

She said the trust was registered in June 2016 to help everyone on how to overcome issues of violence they encounter in their lives.

However, she noted that studies had shown that the girl child was mostly on the receiving end of abuse.

Ms Ntsabane said the trust was there to help women to stand up and say no to violence, as well as to empower men and women to raise a generation that shuns gender based violence.

She noted that the trust also aimed to create a platform of unity, love, respect and dialogue for the society. BOPA