ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!: PUPILS MARCH AGAINST KILLING OF WOMEN

By KOPANO MONAHENG

More and more children are now becoming orphans at a very young age because of the killings of women in Gauteng.

Every day, women are being killed in the Ekurhuleni area, while the serial killer or killers behind the attacks have still not been found.

But pupils at Funda Ujabule Primary School have had enough.

On Friday, 18 September, the school’s 520 pupils took to the streets of Pimville, Soweto, to say no to gender-based violence (GBV) and the killing of women.

The march was aimed at raising awareness about the killing of women in Gauteng and encouraging communities to speak out against violence.

Funda Ujabule Primary School principal Sabina Lukhuleni said with gender-based violence continuing to raise concern and South Africa facing a serious problem of violent crime, the pupils organised the march to encourage other schools in the province and across the country to speak up when they see a woman being abused.

“So, we decided as a collective, as a school, that we need to make them aware of what is happening. Normally, we celebrate soccer, we involve them, we celebrate Valentine’s Day and Heritage Day. But when the country is in mourning, we, the children, also need to understand,” she said.

There’s hope the march will reach many primary and secondary schools across the country.

The campaign is centred around self-awareness, accountability, responsibility, empathy and compassion.

“So, today was about that – making them aware of what is going on and about safety in general, both male and female.

“Most importantly, they need to know that in moments like this, we really need to gather together and ask God. I think it is in Second Chronicles: ‘If my people call my name, I will hear from heaven and I will answer.’

“So, today was about pleading with God. Not that He is not aware, but intentionally saying, ‘God, only You can help the police identify who is behind this so that You can put an end to this.’

“We know our source is God. We were coming together as a school to say, ‘God, have mercy on the country. Have mercy on the families of those who have lost their loved ones. Have mercy and hear our prayers, and get those people accountable so that we cannot live in fear.’

Apart from today’s campaign, there’s a lot of programmes that they do specifically for parents because they know that parenting is also an issue.

“We used to have oral parenting, where older people would show us how to do it. Nothing was documented, but because we are a University of Johannesburg (UJ) school and we are in partnership with Levon, we ask them to come and facilitate programmes. These include programmes on how to deal with mental health issues and, in general, how to deal with anger issues.

“They also come and speak about prostate cancer for men and cervical cancer for women. We even go further by organising people from SASSA to come and address the community at large. A school is also for the community, so we educate people about how, when and where to access SASSA services.

“The last time they were here, it was also new to us to understand that when you are looking after an elderly person who is already eligible for a grant, you can also apply for R500. You know, that will help the person who is taking care of them.

“So, we source information and call the parents and the community to come in, get involved and share information that will really help them to become better citizens.”

They have 523 pupils and 26 teachers at the school. “We could have more because we have a lot of parents who want their children to be part of the school, but the infrastructure is not big enough to accommodate more than that.”

However, the chairperson of the school governing body (SGB), Ephraim Maneli, said:

“When the kids are saying, ‘Stop killing our mothers. Stop killing our aunts. Stop killing our sisters. Stop killing the mothers of the nation,’ then the event is pushed by these kids. They are saying, ‘Let it stop. Enough is enough.’ When that call comes from the kids, as parents, we also have to rise to the occasion, support the kids and be behind them. That is why we couldn’t say no. We support such causes as part of the curriculum. When there is a crisis, even at home, don’t be alone. We are there. Normally, we call this school a tripartite alliance. It is parents, teachers and the children who work as a chain.”