Young women activists in South Africa: Challenges and mitigation strategies

By: Adefemi Obalade

To change the world for better requires lot of strategies and commitment. In South Africa, changing the nation requires a proactive disposition. Young, vibrant and committed activists are now springing up to ensure brighter future for the country and the youths in particular. There are some areas of governance that are not in favour of the masses and needed to be brought to the attention of our political leaders and stakeholders if at all we want to attain greatness. In South Africa, several young women and girls such as ‘the seven young girls’ are now at the forefront of activism through education, climate action, and action against gender-based violence. These girls have demonstrated to the world that no one is too young to change the world for better economic benefits for the citizens. Munnira Katongole a 17-year-old South African activist has been known for her radical approach towards ensuring social change and climate justice. Katongole is an affiliate of the South African Institute of International Affairs’ Youth Policy Committee on climate. She said in one of her speeches that “Millions of women and girls are being abused and killed every day, simply for existing in this white, patriarchal society. How can one not speak up for gender equality? I’m an unapologetic, radical, Black feminist. Seeing young girls suffer and even die, completely unnecessarily, fuels my activism.” Ingrid and Enersh are both 13 years old South African activists who advocated for good education for girls. Despite the fact that both came from a community where only close to 40% of the population have completed grade 12 or higher and 40% remain unemployed, the duo strived to break the record of their school by being the first students to be accepted into Langa Education Assistance Program (LEAP). LEAP only make provision for 40 slots each year with lots of application across Cape Town and many other communities more privileged than that of Ingrid’s and Enersh’s. Four young women activists who are seriously against gender-based violence have been very passionate about their convictions and have been unequivocal about its manifestation.

These four young women activists of Nyanga and Bonteheuwel part of South Africa include 17-year-old Nashieka, 20-year-old Mihlali, 12-year-old Inam, and 14-year-old Anelisa. South Africa has been known to have history of gender based violence and Nyanga is consistently ranked the murder capital of South Africa, with a murder rate of 15.2 murders for every 100,000 women. The four young activists fighting hard to change the narrative have yielded positively in some regions of South Africa. In their quest to rid South Africa of gender-based violence, they tried to equip survivors of gender-based violence between the ages of 9 and 21 with skills for self-defence and tools needed to actualize the defence. In one of her narrations, Nashieka said “I didn’t know anything about self-defence when I came here,” but the pepper spray included in POWER2YOU Pack was able to save her life when a gun man attempted to rob her. All the four girl activists are now educating other girls in schools and communities about their rights and how to equip themselves for self-defence in case such situation arises. Othembele Dyantyi, a 13 years old female activists, is another patriotic personality who started her activism against climate change when she was just 10 years old. Othembele joined Khayelitsha Eco Warriors and currently, she is a member of the African Climate Alliance (ACA), a youth movement fighting for social and ecological justice. She said in one of her speeches “I live in a marginalized community, and it’s a very underscored community. If we have a tree in a neighborhood, it gets cut down immediately because they use the wood for braaing [grilling or roasting] and building shacks. We don’t actually appreciate the resources we have.” Othembele has been co-running an eco-club at her school to encourage other students especially girls to embrace climate justice activism by starting with small changes in their homes and communities.

Challenges of young women activists in South Africa

Despite the numerous milestones achieved by young women activists in South Africa, there are some challenges that confront them. Some of such challenges are:

• Harassment and Intimidation: Most young women activists in South Africa have passed through turbulent times. In some instances in some African countries, rather than the political leaders to engage the activists diplomatically, they chose to silent the activists through intimidation and harassment. This has brought discouragement to most of the young activists who are now afraid of standing-up against perceived injustices in their environment. In some cases, young women activists who are perceived to be out spoken with lots of large followers on social media, are often cyberbullied; all in an attempt to shut them up. Sometimes there are several attacks on the reputations of young activists which in some cases may result in their detention.
• Persecution and Insecurity: Activists are generally unsecured and often persecuted in the course of their activism. Their security and that of their families are not guaranteed either in their homes or any other place. A critical example was the murder of Mam’ Fikile Ntshangase who was until her death was committed to taking her organisation, the Mfolozi Community Justice Environmental Organisation (MCEJO), and environmental organisations across the country. Mam’ Ntshangase spoke out against the destructive expansion of Somkhele mine. She was eventually murdered in her Mtubatuba home on the night of 22 October 2020. Before the death of Mam’ Ntshangase, she and her family were subjected to series of persecution which ranges from psychological abuse to physical violence.
• Cultural setback: Young women activists in South Africa are faced with cultural influence in some communities which sees young women involvement in activism as being against their tradition and cultural belief. To those communities, activism should be the role of males in the society. Therefore, Young women activists may have to fight an uphill battle against cultural beliefs which often disregard the role of women in decision making. As some political leaders are repressing them on one hand, the community and family members are also curtailing them on the other hand.

Mitigation strategies for young women activists in South Africa

• Laws and policies: Government should ensure new laws are formed to give respite for young women activists. More policies that can encourage young women activists can also be reeled out occasionally to enforce their social, economic and political rights.
• The government should step-up the level security: Part of government’s responsibilities is to provide adequate security for all her citizens including activists. Government is expected to increase security awareness and also provide prompt security services when the need arises to combat the level of insecurity among South African activists.
• More advocacy/policies on cultural beliefs: There should be more advocacy on women activism to dissuade communities from working against the women folks who are at the forefront of generating sensitivity to the wellbeing of the entire society. If possible, some of the traditional beliefs should be abolished to give respite to young women activists in South Africa.

In conclusion, young women activists in South Africa are doing well in their course to serve humanity. They have played a major role in generating sensitivity to the plight of women and girls within the society. In the course of their activities, many challenges have been identified. It will however be expedient if some of the recommended mitigating strategies are adopted to encourage more young women activists in South Africa.

Dr. Adefemi Obalade writes in his personal capacity