By: Lungisa Somtombo
In a country engulfed with issues that need men intervention like Gender-Based Violence and femicide, Mawethu Lucia Kotobe (MLK) Concepts hosted the first annual Men Empowerment Network (M.E.N) event to remind men about their position and role in society and in their families at Steve Biko Centre on Saturday.
Speaking about how the idea came about, Founder of MLK Concepts Mawethu Kotobe said, he once attended a women empowerment event at Steve Biko Centre in May and noticed that a lot of issues discussed there needed men to do a self-analysis, sit in one room, discuss these issues and come up with solutions.
“At MLK Concept we look at the issue of GBV as an output problem because there are contributing factors that need to be looked at like marriage issues, unemployment and not knowing that as a man you’re a leader of your family,” said Kotobe.
To empower men in all spheres of life, the event had speakers from diverse fields talk about different topics. There was Dr Mthembeni Tebelele to talk about men’s sexual health, Dr Lulamile Hanabe who spoke about leadership, Petros Majola who spoke about the role of a man on a child and the importance of the presence of the father in a child’s life, Bishop Lungile Sibhozo who talked about issues of marriage, Pastor Simphiwe Nojoko who spoke about how churches are a place of transformation and not Gender-Based Violence.
Senior Pastor at Faith Alive Bible Church Simphiwe Nojoko said the event was truly empowering as it covered many areas of concern to men such as financial management, men’s health, adoption, building strong marriages and the urgent need for men to take a stand against women and child abuse.
He added that there is no biblical basis that supports women and child abuse but there are more verses that appeal to men to love women, especially their wives. Further, he said there is a need for more pastors to speak on such events as they hold influential and powerful positions because thousands of people go to churches to listen to them.
“M.E.N should have been published on television to reach more men, especially now that we are in level three lockdown. It should also be supported by the government, the private sector and every man and woman out there, things will change,” said Nojoko.
The event was funded by MLK Concepts, however, they got assistance from Old Mutual, East London IDZ, Mandla Makubalo Radio, Aron Vellem Productions, Nicks Foods, and Phoenix College of Education.
The attendance was altered because of the announcement made by President Cyril Ramaphosa on the decrease in the number of people attending events according to level three restrictions. They had to reduce the number of attendees from 250 to 100 people, however, the event was a success.