“We want men to be responsible. We encourage them to take responsibility for their actions,” said Victor Pike, a mentor at #NoExcuse.
He pointed out that men are responsible for most crimes in society and efforts to root out criminal activities began with them.
Pike spoke on the sidelines of a public dialogue organised by the Gugulethu police to fight crime in the community.
The dialogue was at the Motale property on Saturday 21 July.
It was attended by different stakeholders and organisations, including the Gugulethu Youth Crime Desk, Gugulethu Community Policing Forum, the #NoExcuse organisation and the South African Development and Reconstruction Agency (Sadra) Conflict Transformation.
Constable Nomapha Homane, social crimes coordinator for the station, said the event was about addressing sexual and gender-based violence (GBV).
She described it as a platform for the community to speak out.
He said they wanted to hear and learn more about community concerns and come up with resolutions.
“By having this dialogue we are trying to forge unity between the police and the community generally. Also, we want the community to take responsibility for fighting crime in society.” The policewoman described the event as unique.
She said all the stakeholders presented their role in the community to the gathering before breaking up into their various commissions.
“Here people were divided based on gender and age group,” Homane explained.
“We had two groups of children under 20 years old. We had other groups from 21 to 30 years, for both genders. We also had groups from 31 to 40 years old, 41 to 50 years old and from 51 years old upwards. We want to hear about the challenges each age group and hender faces.”
She identified GBV and murder cases as the most common for the station.
She emphasised that the police will look at and study some of the resolutions that emerged from the event and implement some of them.
Pike implored the men to speak out and stop bottling their emotions, instead of reacting badly to challenges.
#NoExcuse is an advocacy group that raises awareness and creates conversations for men to bring change in society.
Pike dismissed all the excuses used by men to abuse and kill children and women. He encouraged them to walk away from conflicts.
Resident Pat Jada described the event as helpful and educational. She said the dialogue opened the eyes of some residents.
“The event gave us a perspective on conditions the officers worked under. As a community we need to assist them where we can. The officers alone cannot curb crime.”
She stated that GBV is a serious concern that needs to be addressed thoroughly.