South African men's group takes on gender-based violence amid femicide outcry

A non-profit group is bringing men together in a Johannesburg informal settlement to confront violence against women, as South Africa faces renewed anger over a string of femicides. At a tavern in Organic Market, near Alexandra township, men gather in a circle led by local organiser Itumeleng Stephen Tamaga, known as Bra Steve, who urges them to stand together against gender-based violence and femicide. The organisation, Father A Nation, works with men and boys to promote positive masculinity. Kgomotso Mathekga, 30, told the BBC he once grabbed and slapped his girlfriend during an argument, and now feels he contributed to the country's problems after they broke up and he stopped seeing his child.

The meetings follow the discovery of the bodies of 12 women over three months in Ekurhuleni, near Johannesburg, which has reignited questions about the scale of violence against women in South Africa. President Cyril Ramaphosa has acknowledged his government has not done enough and announced measures including better street lighting and a review of unsolved cases. Zizipho Mtwesi, project co-ordinator for Father A Nation, told the BBC the measures are too little and too late, saying he gets angry thinking about the recent murders and wants to reach men before such killings happen.

Official figures underline the scale of the problem. South Africa recorded 5,427 murders between April and June this year. In the same period, the South African Human Rights Commission says 569 women were killed — an average of six a day — and 1,052 others survived attempted murder. A 2022 report by the Human Sciences Research Council found more than 35% of South African women had experienced physical or sexual violence, many at the hands of intimate partners.

Father A Nation's founder, Craig Wilkinson, told the BBC the approach is to get men talking and processing their feelings, which allows healing to take place, before teaching and training positive masculinity. He said the ultimate hope is to eliminate gender-based violence. The organisation operates across South Africa, running training programmes in dozens of schools and colleges. Wilkinson told the men they are a powerful force for good and that they choose what kind of man to be.

Women in Organic Market described their fear. Linkie, cleaning clothes outside a shack, told the BBC they are not safe outside and feel afraid when a car follows them. Providence Maseko, at a local hair salon, said safety is very bad and that she now takes an e-hailing taxi everywhere in the hope it is safer. Bra Steve invited women to attend the men's meetings so both sides could learn to trust each other.

Mathekga said he was impressed by the meeting and wanted the men to keep practising what they learned, noting a lack of role models in the community and that many fathers and uncles are in prison. He said the men must now become role models themselves and help improve the country. Police have not ruled out links between some of the Ekurhuleni deaths but have not said they are investigating a serial killer, and suspects in some cases have appeared in court.