Gender-based violence and femicide took centre stage in Parliament today, after the Democratic Alliance called for an urgent debate on the escalating killings of women in Ekurhuleni. The
debate comes against the backdrop of a growing number of women found murdered across the region since July, with another woman killed in Tembisa on Monday bringing the reported number to 12.
The issue has moved beyond the question of individual criminal cases to one of policing, accountability and the state’s response to GBV. The DA’s Lisa Schickerling argued that Parliament needed to confront what she described as an urgent failure to protect women, while government and police have pointed to interventions already underway, including additional police deployments and an
oversight visit to Ekurhuleni police stations. And the debate comes at a particularly significant moment: a national inquiry into GBVF began in Johannesburg yesterday, examining how victims are supported, how cases are reported and investigated, and the challenges within the criminal justice system.
So, after today’s parliamentary debate, the question for us tonight is: what happens beyond Parliament? What changes for women living in communities where they say they still do not feel safe?

Gender-based violence and femicide took centre stage in&nbsp;Parliament today, after the Democratic Alliance called for an urgent&nbsp;debate on the escalating killings of women in Ekurhuleni. The debate comes against the backdrop of a growing number of women&nbsp;found murdered across the region since July, with another woman&nbsp;killed in Tembisa on Monday bringing the reported number to 12. The issue has moved beyond the question of individual criminal&nbsp;cases to one of policing, accountability and the state&rsquo;s response&nbsp;to GBV. The DA&rsquo;s Lisa Schickerling argued that Parliament needed&nbsp;to confront what she described as an urgent failure to protect&nbsp;women, while government and police have pointed to interventions&nbsp;already underway, including additional police deployments and an oversight visit to Ekurhuleni police stations.&nbsp;And the debate comes at a particularly significant moment: a&nbsp;national inquiry into GBVF began in Johannesburg yesterday,&nbsp;examining how victims are supported, how cases are reported and&nbsp;investigated, and the challenges within the criminal justice system. So, after today&rsquo;s parliamentary debate, the question for us tonight is:&nbsp;what happens beyond Parliament? What changes for women&nbsp;living in communities where they say they still do not feel safe?

METRO FM Talk with Faith Mangope

METRO FM Talk with Faith Mangope

Ekurhuleni’s Femicide Crisis: After Parliament’s Debate,  What Changes on the Ground? ( DA MP LISA SCHICKELING )

For almost three decades, South Africans have been told that democracy means having the right to vote, choosing political representatives and expecting those representatives to deliver on the promises made during election campaigns. But what happens when citizens lose faith that the system is actually
working for them? What happens when a broken streetlight stays broken, when a pothole becomes part of the landscape, when communities struggle with water, crime, unemployment and failing public services — and the response from government feels like another promise to fix it tomorrow?
It is from this frustration that Dr Mbuyiseni Ndlozi has put forward what he calls “11 Theses on the Call for Batho Pele Convention: Siyazenzela.” At the heart of his argument is a fundamental challenge to the way South Africans understand power. He argues that citizens have been reduced to what he calls “professional petitioners” — people who continuously ask government to solve problems they already have the collective capacity to confront themselves.
His proposal is the Batho Pele Convention: a permanent, non-partisan, membership-funded grassroots movement built around self-sufficiency, citizen agency and Ubuntu. The idea is not
simply to protest when government fails, but to organise communities to act — to fix, build, produce and create systems that respond directly to the needs of the people, while simultaneously
holding those in power accountable. But that raises some difficult questions. If citizens begin building their own schools, fixing their own roads, finding their own solutions to water and security — are we witnessing the birth of a more powerful form of citizen participation, or are we simply allowing the state to retreat from responsibilities it is supposed to fulfil? And if the ballot every five years is no longer enough, what does democracy look like between elections? Tonight, we take those questions to Dr Mbuyiseni Ndlozi, as we unpack his 11 Theses, the idea of Siyazenzela, and his call for South Africans to move from waiting for change to becoming active agents of change.

For almost three decades, South Africans have been told that&nbsp;democracy means having the right to vote, choosing political&nbsp;representatives and expecting those representatives to deliver on&nbsp;the promises made during election campaigns.&nbsp;But what happens when citizens lose faith that the system is actually working for them?&nbsp;What happens when a broken streetlight stays broken, when a&nbsp;pothole becomes part of the landscape, when communities struggle&nbsp;with water, crime, unemployment and failing public services &mdash; and&nbsp;the response from government feels like another promise to fix it&nbsp;tomorrow? It is from this frustration that Dr Mbuyiseni Ndlozi has put forward&nbsp;what he calls &ldquo;11 Theses on the Call for Batho Pele Convention:&nbsp;Siyazenzela.&rdquo; At the heart of his argument is a fundamental&nbsp;challenge to the way South Africans understand power. He argues&nbsp;that citizens have been reduced to what he calls &ldquo;professional&nbsp;petitioners&rdquo; &mdash; people who continuously ask government to solve problems they already have the collective capacity to confront&nbsp;themselves. His proposal is the Batho Pele Convention: a permanent,&nbsp;non-partisan, membership-funded grassroots movement built&nbsp;around self-sufficiency, citizen agency and Ubuntu. The idea is not simply to protest when government fails, but to organise&nbsp;communities to act &mdash; to fix, build, produce and create systems that&nbsp;respond directly to the needs of the people, while simultaneously holding those in power accountable.&nbsp;But that raises some difficult questions.&nbsp;If citizens begin building their own schools, fixing their own roads,&nbsp;finding their own solutions to water and security &mdash; are we&nbsp;witnessing the birth of a more powerful form of citizen participation,&nbsp;or are we simply allowing the state to retreat from responsibilities it&nbsp;is supposed to fulfil?&nbsp;And if the ballot every five years is no longer enough, what does&nbsp;democracy look like between elections?&nbsp;Tonight, we take those questions to Dr Mbuyiseni Ndlozi, as we&nbsp;unpack his 11 Theses, the idea of Siyazenzela, and his call for&nbsp;South Africans to move from waiting for change to becoming&nbsp;active agents of change.

Siyazenzela: Can Citizens Take Back Power? Dr Mbuyiseni Ndlozi’s  Call for a New Batho Pele Convention

There is a new reality confronting young South Africans entering the world of work: the jobs they are looking for are changing at the same time that they are struggling to find jobs in the first place. South Africa’s youth unemployment rate for those aged 15 to 34 has climbed to 47.4%, according
to the latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey, with 5 million young people unemployed in the second quarter of this year. And now, artificial intelligence is adding another layer to an already difficult labour market. AI can automate certain tasks, change the way businesses operate and alter the skills employers look for — but it can also create new opportunities in areas such as data, cybersecurity, cloud computing, software, digital services and AI itself. So what does this actually mean for a young person sitting at home with a degree, diploma or matric certificate and
struggling to get that first opportunity? Are our universities and TVET colleges teaching young people the skills that the economy needs? Are employers doing enough to give young
people workplace experience? And importantly, can AI become part of the solution to South Africa's youth unemployment crisis rather than another barrier to entering the economy? We’re asking these questions tonight as the Institute for the Future of Work prepares for its annual dialogue on how AI and
technological change are reshaping the future of work. Joining us is Tseliso Mohlomi, Executive Director of the Institute for the Future of Work at Tshwane University of Technology. 

There is a new reality confronting young South Africans&nbsp;entering the world of work: the jobs they are looking for are&nbsp;changing at the same time that they are struggling to find&nbsp;jobs in the first place. South Africa&rsquo;s youth unemployment&nbsp;rate for those aged 15 to 34 has climbed to 47.4%, according to the latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey, with 5 million&nbsp;young people unemployed in the second quarter of this year.&nbsp;And now, artificial intelligence is adding another layer to an&nbsp;already difficult labour market. AI can automate certain tasks,&nbsp;change the way businesses operate and alter the skills&nbsp;employers look for &mdash; but it can also create new opportunities in areas such as data, cybersecurity, cloud computing,&nbsp;software, digital services and AI itself.&nbsp;So what does this actually mean for a young person sitting at&nbsp;home with a degree, diploma or matric certificate and struggling to get that first opportunity? Are our universities and&nbsp;TVET colleges teaching young people the skills that the&nbsp;economy needs? Are employers doing enough to give young people workplace experience? And importantly, can AI&nbsp;become part of the solution to South Africa's youth&nbsp;unemployment crisis rather than another barrier to&nbsp;entering the economy?&nbsp;We&rsquo;re asking these questions tonight as the Institute for the&nbsp;Future of Work prepares for its annual dialogue on how AI and technological change are reshaping the future of work. Joining&nbsp;us is Tseliso Mohlomi, Executive Director of the Institute for the&nbsp;Future of Work at Tshwane University of Technology.&nbsp;

Tseliso Mohlomi ( Senior Director, Office of the Vice-Chancellor & Principal Institute for the Future of Work (IFOW), Tshwane University of Technology )

For generations, many of the stories about Black South Africans — our families, our struggles, our communities, our women and our history — have been told by someone else. Often, those stories
have been written through the lens of politics, academia, journalism or history books. But what happens when the people who lived those experiences pick up the pen and tell the story themselves? Today, we bring together three women who have done exactly that. Zodwa Zwane, who spent years working alongside Winnie Mandela and has written My Boss, Mrs Mandela; Lulama Mali, author of Held: Portrait of the Black Family, which explores family, memory and the historical forces that have shaped Black families; and Dr Vathiswa Papu-Zamxaka, whose own journey from difficult circumstances to becoming a Deputy Vice-Chancellor is documented in Greatness Undeniable.
Their stories are personal, but they also speak to much bigger questions about inequality, opportunity, education, family, history and the socioeconomic realities that continue to shape people's lives. So today, we ask: what happens when women take ownership of their narratives? Can telling our own stories become a form of resistance, preservation and social change? And why does it matter who gets to write the first draft of our history?

For generations, many of the stories about Black South Africans &mdash;&nbsp;our families, our struggles, our communities, our women and our&nbsp;history &mdash; have been told by someone else. Often, those stories have been written through the lens of politics, academia, journalism or history books. But what happens when the people who lived&nbsp;those experiences pick up the pen and tell the story themselves?&nbsp;Today, we bring together three women who have done exactly that.&nbsp;Zodwa Zwane, who spent years working alongside Winnie Mandela&nbsp;and has written My Boss, Mrs Mandela; Lulama Mali, author of Held:&nbsp;Portrait of the Black Family, which explores family, memory and the&nbsp;historical forces that have shaped Black families; and Dr Vathiswa&nbsp;Papu-Zamxaka, whose own journey from difficult circumstances to&nbsp;becoming a Deputy Vice-Chancellor is documented in Greatness&nbsp;Undeniable. Their stories are personal, but they also speak to much bigger&nbsp;questions about inequality, opportunity, education, family, history&nbsp;and the socioeconomic realities that continue to shape people's&nbsp;lives. So today, we ask: what happens when women take&nbsp;ownership of their narratives? Can telling our own stories&nbsp;become a form of resistance, preservation and social change?&nbsp;And why does it matter who gets to write the first draft of our&nbsp;history?

Ekurhuleni’s Femicide Crisis: After Parliament’s Debate, What Changes on the Ground? ( DA MP LISA SCHICKELING )

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