THE grandfather of the three-year-old boy, who was found brutally murdered on Monday last week, has appealed to local men of all races to join the Men’s Forum and work together in grooming the men of tomorrow.
Siphiwo Mnyaka who is a member of the Men’s Forum was speaking in a prayer service following the killing of his grandson, Olovuyo Moni.
Even though local police haven’t made arrests in connection with the murder case, Mnyaka said he was certain that the perpetrator was a man.
“This isn’t a political matter but a societal matter which needs all of us – black, white, green, coloured, dark or blue.
“Today it happened in my house and if we don’t take action today, tomorrow it’s going to happen to your loved one.
“And I am certain that the person who committed this horrendous act is one of us – a man.
“We need to admit that as senior men we have failed and we need to take responsibility and create a safe space for our children and vulnerable wives, sisters and children,” he said.
Mnyaka called on all men to give guidance to youngsters, saying some committed such acts because they lacked mentorship at an early age.
“When we speak of men in this context we are not referring to people who went to initiation schools but we are talking about responsible men who have a vision for a safe and conducive Komani and effectively the country as a whole.
“These youngsters lack role mo-dels, people they can look up to. And I appeal to every man out there to rise and say ‘I am that man who is going to make a change’,” he added.
The local Men’s Forum was established in 2016 with a solemn plan which is to mould young boys into leaders.
Chairperson of the forum, Sandile Gcina, said they welcomed everyone in the organisation, as long they were there for the benefit of the community.
He also invited those with counselling skills to join them.
“Young boys are like dough or clay – if they are not moulded from an early age they will take a shape that will be problematic to the community. And moulding them requires lot of skills not just the conventional way. Some have psychological issues that need professio-nal intervention and we strongly appeal to those who can assist with such skills to join us. What happened to the little child needs to be curbed before it spreads,” said Gcina.
A local group of car spinners and stunt men from Victoria Park, who go by the name Team Queenstown #BossTalk, recently visited the grieving family, donated towards funeral arrangements and pledged their support for the Men’s Forum.
Spokesperson for the group, Ni-ven Haripersad, said, “We are here to mourn and support the family in this difficult moment because what happened here can happen to anyone regardless of their race. Today we say we are one people fighting for a common cause which is a sa-fer Komani. And we aren’t here only as the Team Queenstown #BossTalk but we received massive sponsorship from businesses and in-stitutions who are also touched by what happened here, like Goldwagen, Kula, Twizza, Queens’ College, Smuff’s Towing among many others.”
He said they’d begin attending meetings and participating in programmes organised by the forum.
The Men’s Forum can be contacted on 064 941 4775 or 078 798 1263.
