Online Reporter
Bongani Ndlovu, [email protected]
BULAWAYO Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution Judith Ncube has called for a collective community response to the rising cases of gender-based violence (GBV), saying society must reflect on where it is failing in protecting families.
Speaking during the funeral service of Nothabo Zandile Tshuma and her two daughters, Natalie and Nala, at Brethren in Christ Church in New Lobengula, Bulawayo, yesterday, Minister Ncube said homes, which were expected to be places of love and safety, had in some instances become places of suffering.
She questioned the increase in GBV cases in Bulawayo and Matabeleland, asking: “Kwenzenjani siahleke ngaphi? Where are we missing it?”
“Marriage is supposed to be little heaven on earth but our homes are hell,” said Minister Ncube.
She said recent cases of violence, including the alleged rape and assault of a six-year-old girl and the killing of a woman in Nkulumane, showed the urgent need for society to act.
Minister Ncube said communities needed to develop programmes to fight GBV in the same way they responded to the HIV and Aids pandemic.
“Can’t we create home care programmes just like we did with HIV? We managed to control the pandemic and we may have to do that with GBV. This is getting out of hand,” she said.
She urged families to support each other, saying the actions of individuals should not divide communities.
“BakoTshuma lazala inyama alizalanga umoya, go to the Khumalos and talk. Children do as they please. All families have burdens with bad behaviour of their children, but let us stand together as Bulawayo and Zimbabwe. Let us unite for a cause,” she said.
Minister Ncube also called on church leaders to come up with programmes aimed at addressing violence and restoring peace in communities.
“Pastors, let us sit down and come up with a programme, even if it means the city gives us White City or Barbourfields Stadium so that we fast and pray about the killings being done by our children,” she said.
