6 Powerful Phrases by 6 brave women: Women’s Day

Hey All!

So I have missed you all and blogging. I so apologise for  disappearing on you like that…Life!

Apartheid was a hard time for my country, even though I wasn’t there most of it, I can relate.  The inequalities and social and economic issues we are faced with today are the results of the country’s history.

 

The national Women’s day is not just any other holiday to celebrate women. On this day in 1956,  women of all races came together to march against the ‘pass laws’ in the country during those times, . This was the law that did not allow black people to go in the then ‘white people only’ areas, these laws further restricted women on their movement in and around the country.

These courageous women who counted to over 20 000 were marching towards the Union Building in Pretoria, this is where the official seat of the South African Government and also the offices of the President of South Africa are.  Among those who led the march were the stalwarts Lilian Ngoyi andHelen Joseph.

I thought I should first explain what the day is all about. So grab yourself some coffee prepare yourself for a long, informative and expressive post.

Today. South African women are faced with even more challenges.

Almost every month we hear of a woman who has died from an abusive relationship. Even after so many outcries. Women have made efforts, the #MenAreTrash and #MeToo movements on social media have been used to make efforts to stop the abuse. None of these have proven much success as police are really not helping much as well. A young woman, Khensani (check #RIPKhensani) recently cut short her life after an alleged boyfriend raped her.

 

These are stories we need to tell and bring forward so we fight them together as women. Last week all women of SA mobilised and formed a #TotalShutdown around the country to express their anger because, really, enough is enough.

 

So I asked 5 brave women to share a power phrase they felt would express their feelings about the femicides and rape cases happening currently in the country. Here’s what they had to say:

Sinovuyo ‘NINO’ Apleni

“It takes balls being a woman!”
“We are beaten ,battered,violated and shamed.we walk in fear of our counter parts in society,we wake up not knowing if this will be the day we lose our lives simply because we born a gender that is seen as vulnerable and worthy of disrespect…Yet each day we hold our heads high,we hide our scars behind pretty smiles and hearty laughter. Now that’s having balls in my book. The strength of us women is muscularity.

 

Vuyokazi ‘Vuvu’ Siboyana
“JONGA ITIKITI LAKHO”

We are woman from different back grounds with different experiences in life. We’ve fought battles in ways that we thought are best,we have different scars from different types of abuse. Some scars are visible some are internal where no one can see them and only you can feel. Some women were fortunate enough to have a support system and some had to rely on psychologists inorder to be heale. Others had to supress whatever feelings or scars they had inorder for life to go on
Im here today as a scard woman,as a woman who had to supress every pain I had inorder for my life to go foward. I wake up everyday and be glad thay I survived my abuse kodwa somehow sad because I had sisters,friends,aunts,neighbours that lost their beauty,self esteem even their lives because of keeping quiet about being abused. I’ve been humiliated used and abused but that did not bring me down instead I used those negative things as my stepping stones. Im from the poor of the poorest family but I’am working and stydying hard so that the following generation from my blood line can be the richer of richest. Stop feeling sorry for yourself woman,God created you for a purpose. Instead of feeling sorry for yourself and looking at other peoples success mna ndithi JONGA ITIKITI LAKHO mntase and be the success God created you to be. On this womans month lets rather focus on helping and pulling one another up sbambane sibe yimbumba like oomama Lillian Ngoyi and leave PHDS(Pull her down syndrome) that we never stidied for.TAKE CHARGE OF YOUR LIFE WOMAN. #JONGA ITIKITI LAKHO.

Getty ‘Native Child’

“My vigina , my choices”

Mine is really simple as women we were taught from the minute we got our periods as little girls that ” your vigina belongs to your husband ” today I am saying my vagina , my choice because I’ve realised that my vagina belongs to me and me alone what I decide to do with it should not bother anyone basically what I am saying is stop policing women’s bodies .

Nolo
The day we own what we are worth will be the day we are able to walk away from abusive relationships.

 

Yonela Tsibolane

“Women are HUMANS not rocks. If you strike me, I will BLEED.”
I came across this quote on one of my friend’s social media posts, during the #TotalShutDown march against Gender-based violence that took place earlier on this month. I read it over multiple times, and I couldn’t believe it. The accuracy. The strong black woman who is told to stick by her partner through every beating and lie she is fed. The woman who is forced to suffer in silence after being raped. The woman who was silenced forever by her murderer. The truth is women are humans and they suffer. They cannot always be told to endure pain, because it will never stop hurting. Women cannot always be told to be strong – sometimes we should be allowed to be weak. We should be allowed to cry and to feel anger , without being told to suffer in silence.

 

 

Naledi Chirwa

Men are trash to women and to each other. Even the “not all men” men brigade are scared of men. They don’t walk out late at night because they know there’s men out there who might end their lives for a phone. We are scared of men. Men are scared of each other. Our problem is men.

Thank you for reading. 😊. Please Comment below, we’d like to hear what you all think. ✊