A group of Bonteheuwel men now form part of the Men in Masculinity programme, which launched at the Bonteheuwel Civic Centre last week.
Speaking at the launch on Thursday April 13, City of Cape Town social development principal officer Siyamcela Mtamzeli said the group was needed in the area as many men did not understand their role in a modern society.
The Men in Masculinity team is made up of social workers, residents, and ward councillor Angus McKenzie.
Mr Mtamzeli said the aim was also for men to become role models for young boys and fight gender violence.
“Men have struggled to redefine themselves in this modern era. The stigma is that if a man can’t provide for his family, he ceases to be a man. We want to correct that because even unemployed men have an important role to play in society. People of Bonteheuwel need to empower other people of Bonteheuwel,” he said.
Mr McKenzie said the Bonteheuwel community needed to participate in its own upliftment.
“This programme’s launch has been delayed because we really struggled to find young men for this programme. Men should be leaders of their families and protect their families, go out and work for their families. It is critically important that training happens to empower our residents. These are opportunities to pass on knowledge.”
It was also important for women to abstain from alcohol while pregnant and leave abusive relationships, he said.
“The community must stand up against the wrong so that wrong things can be stopped from happening.”
Ashley Vister, the City’s social development department team leader, said Foetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) was a big problem in the community.
“It is really heartsore to know that this is still happening in our communities. We as a community look past when women drink while they are pregnant, we talk to others about it, but we don’t talk to the person and share information that we know that could help them. We need to uplift others instead of putting them down. Some people don’t know what FAS is that is why it is important that we don’t judge them.”
FAS babies cried a lot and shook while crying because they were having withdrawal symptoms of the drugs carried through the umbilical cord and via the father’s sperm, he said, adding that the babies became drug addicts in the womb.
Children with FAS took much longer to learn and so struggled at school.
“Their concentration span is very low, often only 10 to 15 minutes. They like playing and using their hands. They find it very difficult to sit still and at high school it will be worse. They often end up dropping out because the work is just too much,” he said, adding that this then made these children vulnerable to gang recruitment.
Another problem, he said, was children, some as young as 10, falling pregnant.
“Children are having children. Young children are having babies with no support. Their parents put them out and they go to stay with friends. There, they party every weekend and drink while pregnant. After nine months, she gives birth. If she’s lucky, she didn’t lose the baby because substance abuse leads to miscarriages.”
He said society had accepted teenage pregnancy as a norm and people often did not realise that it amounted to statutory rape.
Mr Vister also cautioned parents not to throw their babies in the air as their necks and brains were still soft. The jarring motion could snap the infant’s neck or cause a vein in their brain to burst, he said.
“We need to be careful how we handle our babies. Consequences will show later as they develop.”