Conference inspires men to reclaim African communities

In celebration of International Men's Day, with a strong emphasis on the societal problem of suicide, and in observance of the sixteen days of activism against Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF) starting on 25 November 2023, Unisa's Eastern Cape Region, in collaboration with the Unisa Women's Forum (UWF), presented the Second Annual Men's Conference on 16 November 2023. The theme of the conference was "Reclaiming communities in Africa: Inspirations for the modern men".

Prof Monde Ntwasa, Acting Executive Dean of the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences at Unisa, delivered the keynote address

The event was organised by Unisa's Mthatha Regional Service Centre Manager, Dr Vuyokazi Sigaqa, with the support of the UWF, Dr Daniel Mosako (Department of Information Science), Leon Roets (Curriculum and Learning Development in the College of Human Sciences), and Zibuze Kunene (Unisa's Finance Department).

The programme was facilitated by Dr Tonny Matjila (Research and Development Officer in the College of Graduate Studies), Kagiso Mekoa (from Counselling and Career Development at Unisa), and Avron Beaumont (Tutorial Officer at Unisa). The event attracted 336 participants, including Unisa students, staff, and external stakeholders.

Sigaqa emphasised the importance of women's participation, stating that men and women should learn to co-exist with one another. Supporting this sentiment, Motale Nkgoang (Unisa's Eastern Cape Regional Director), delivered a unique welcome address by acknowledging the global role that women are playing in shaping young men. He also emphasised that societies should acknowledge the role played by women in moulding young men to be the best they can be in the world.

The Acting Deputy Registrar, Mathews Kokong, then set the scene and context, saying that the men's conference is important, as it serves as a form of therapy, while enhancing personal growth and transforming men. Kokong further stated: "We need to change, so we can play our role better in society and become the Modern Man. We should open our hearts to others, and by doing so we inspire each other."

Maternal greetings for the day were extended by the Executive Director: Tuition Support and Facilitation of Learning and Unisa Women's Forum (UWF) Chairperson, Professor Meahabo Magano, who expressed her appreciation for the initiative taken by Sigaqa, whom she had mentored through the UWF to give birth to Unisa's Men’s Conference Project.

She aligned the initiative with the UWF’s vision, emphasising that the UWF acknowledges the pivotal role male Unisans play in creating an enabling environment, making Unisa, and higher education in general, an equal space of work. Magano concluded her presentation by referring to Professor Manu Ampim's "Five major African initiation rites", where the rite of birth, the rite of adulthood, the rite of marriage, the rite of eldership and the rite of ancestorship are highlighted.

Mthatha's Regional Service Centre Manager, Dr Vuyokazi Sigaqa, introduced the keynote speaker, the Acting Executive Dean of the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences at Unisa, Professor Monde Ntwasa.

Ntwasa linked his keynote address to the global commemoration of Men’s Month and the conference theme of "Reclaiming communities in Africa – Inspirations for the modern men". Ntwasa had underlined a few words, such as "reclaiming", remarking that "the word 'reclaiming', which we use at Unisa quite frequently as part of our themes, means repossessing something that was taken away from you. One of the things that Unisa wants to do is to reclaim our futures. It means that someone is in control of what (they) want to claim, so repossessing it is going to be an active step."

Ntwasa then defined what his role as keynote speaker would be in this encounter, saying that "my role here is not to give solutions, but I am here to stimulate discussions and thoughts, and maybe shake our comfort zones". Ntwasa also spoke about ubuntu (the concept of 'I am because we are'), contending that "African scholars identify ubuntu as a philosophy of life and it underlies the unrecognised role of relatedness and dependency of, firstly, human individuality, and secondly, the cosmos or the universe and other humans. Ubuntu is multidimensional and is underpinned by the following core values: respect for human beings; respect for human dignity; respect for human life; collective and/or shared responsibility; obedience; humanity; solidarity; caring; hospitality; interdependence; and communalism."

He continued: "What I noticed about us, as a people, is that we are moving close to what is called a nuclear, or conjugal family, which is a family of a father, a mother, two children, and two cars. We are becoming individuals and are being exiled from communities and the extended family," Ntwasa remarked. He continued by declaring that "this situation means that ubuntu is now absent, as it is impossible to have a nuclear family and still have ubuntu present".

"The marginalisation of African men and the disruption of Africans as a people", and "South African men being primarily responsible for restoring African humanity and dignity" were other topics that Ntwasa spoke on, and he concluded by saying: "The nuclear family is not us and we must work for ourselves and seek solutions as a people, recognise the centrality of ubuntu in our survival and, above all, recognise that God is transcendental and immanent."

The event was complemented with a panel discussion facilitated by Kagiso Mekoa, featuring a psychologist, marriage therapist and author, Bakhe Dlamini; an advocate of the High Court SA and member of the Cape Bar, Adv Sithe Ngombane; a counselling psychologist and Unisa Student Counsellor, Dr Bongani Ndlela; finance executive, Manqoba Manana; grief, loss and recovery coach and author, Neo Mabiletsa; and founder and senior pastor of Thy Will Ministries International, Reverend Sandile Msimanga.

Thereafter, a question-and-answer session took place. A discussion seeking a way forward, presented by Zibuze Kunene, suggested that a Men’s Forum be established for Unisa as a platform for a healing process and to shape the values and social norms of men – thus tackling the issue of GBVF.

Unisa's Acting Registrar, Professor Moloko Sepota, then delivered a message of support, sharing his wish to see the conference expand and touch more lives next year. He also noted the issues he had picked up from the discussions, namely communalism and absent-father syndrome, and said that he was positive that through the initiatives taken by this conference more issues will be appropriately addressed.

Mlibo Qoboshiyane, Deputy Speaker of the Eastern Cape Legislature, who joined the conference later on, remarked as follows: "We must endeavour to rid ourselves from these social issues that have been ventilated so well on this platform, that are currently plaguing the entire society and I think, as men, we need to acknowledge and recognise the kind of social pressures that, at times, are heavy on our shoulders. We must become vital in shaping values, morals, social norms, and behaviour. If we can reposition ourselves as men to take that condition, we may also try to make an input in the way of living so that we can be emulated by generations after us.”

Qoboshiyane finally added, “I wish to extend my appreciation for these kinds of platforms, because they become a healing process and men must acknowledge and take into consideration that if we are repositioning our condition, we can still take our position to ensure that we do things differently.”

Entertainment was provided by Angelo Vaaltyn from Records Management at Unisa. The attendees thoroughly enjoyed the songs he sang during the interludes throughout the day.

In conclusion, Dr Daniel Mosako expressed gratitude to the conference organising team, all the speakers and conference attendees, summarised the conference proceedings and acknowledged the speakers' contributions to the event theme. He further suggested that the invaluable deliberations of the conference should be extended into published articles and books, as a drive to make the planet a better place to live in.

* Compiled by Lukhetho Mbanjwa: Communications and Marketing Intern, Unisa Eastern Cape Region, and Dr Vuyokazi Sigaqa, Regional Service Centre Manger, Unisa Eastern Cape Region