By Tamlyn Canham
Bonnie Mbuli has started an important discussion about gender-based violence.
“You don’t want to hear this… I don’t either, but who raised these men? We did,” she tweeted.
you don’t want to hear this ..i don’t either, but Who raised these men? We did !
— Bonnie Mbuli (@BonnieMbuli) May 9, 2021
The actress received a lot of flak for her comments, with some saying that men need to be held accountable for their actions.
Bonnie stressed that she was not absolving men from accountability.
“Nobody, especially myself is absolving men of accountability and the role they have played in this reign of terror, it’s hard to accept but we have contributed to upholding the pillars that are keeping this system erect, we have all played a part.”
READ: Mohale Motaung slams abusers
Nobody, especially myself is absolving men of accountability and the role they have played in this reign of terror, it’s hard to accept but we have contributed to upholding the pillars that are keeping this system erect, we have all played a part. https://t.co/pPsN2fJgDu
— Bonnie Mbuli (@BonnieMbuli) May 10, 2021
Despite the backlash, Bonnie stood by her statement.
“I said what I said.”
Said what i said , as we were 😘
— Bonnie Mbuli (@BonnieMbuli) May 10, 2021
Not a blame game
Many people also agreed with Bonnie’s tweet.
“Women can be big agents and gatekeepers for the patriarchy, especially in the generation of our mothers and older but there are young women complicit and feeding this culture. It makes it all the more difficult and intricate,” one woman tweeted.
Women can be big agents and gatekeepers for the patriarchy, especially in the generation of our mothers and older but there are young women complicit and feeding this culture. It makes it all the more difficult and intricate.
— ecléctica 🪐 (@xtinamagwaza) May 10, 2021
Another woman replied that it was not a blame game.
“… as a woman I play a significant role in feeding into the patriarchal society. I need to be better in observing and acknowledging my influence in raising and enabling my boy child.”
Thank you.
This is not a blame game, as a women I play a significant role in feeding into the patriarchal society. I need to be better in observing and acknowledging my influence in raising and enabling my boy child.
— Andisa – ☺️🇿🇦 (@AndisaRwanca) May 10, 2021
I agree with you Bonnie, we refuse to take accountability and it’s all of us as parents, friends- have you seen how strict parents are with their girl children and rules are bent when it comes to boys. This has been my observation when I was in high school in the late 90s.
— Tee (@teebacela) May 10, 2021
I'm doing my postgraduate in gender studies and this is very true.
Women have the power to raise monsters or decent human beings… We cannot rely on men to raise better men…. We as women need to take charge…. It won't be easy but it can be done
We need to do better….
— Qaqamba Tshedza🇿🇦💛 #VendaXhosa (@QaqambaMatsheke) May 10, 2021
I hear where you are coming from and I tend to https://t.co/XRBb5wboEa sisters would move mountains to protect my brother even when he was in the wrong. He never learnt to accept consequences of his actions without blaming other people and they enabled him
— Mother of the sportsman of the year (@Mat_bose_) May 10, 2021
GBV in the spotlight
Recent high-profile cases of gender-based violence have put the issue under the spotlight once again.
A video of rapper AKA breaking down a door to get to his fiancée, Anele ‘Nelli’ Tembe, made headlines on Sunday.
Screenshots from the video were widely shared on social media.
The incident reportedly happened in March, several weeks before Anele fell to her death from the 10th floor of a Cape Town hotel.
“As numb as I was at Anele’s funeral, I took in every word imparted, the direct ones and all those filled with innuendos. I will not be a part of speaking on or exposing our troubles as a couple, to defend myself from one-sided views that are portrayed out of their full context. Every story has two sides and so does every video, image and message,” AKA said in the statement.
Enhle Mbali has also made headlines recently. She has vowed never to back down in her fight against domestic violence.
She accused her estranged husband, DJ Black Coffee, of domestic violence. He denies the claims.
Main image credit: Instagram/@bonniembuli
