The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Limpopo congratulates Ms Regina Nesengani on graduating with a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) from the UNISA last week.
The 65-year-old Ms Nesengani who shot to fame for her role in the popular TV drama Muvhango as Vho Masindi, wrote her thesis in her native language Tshivenda and focused on Gender Based Violence (GBV) through dialogue from drama written by male authors. Ms Nesengani realised that in books written by men, women were often portrayed in a negative light and rarely depicted as intelligent and independent women.
The actress was inspired by the prevalence of GBV in her community when she was still studying for her Master’s.
The 2019/2020 crime statistics revealed that the province recorded 8 519 cases of crimes against women and 2 807 crimes against children. These large number of cases takes into consideration, serious crimes such as murder, sexual offences, attempted murder, assault GBH and common assault.
Ending violence in our communities is a responsibility of the whole community and it is significant that men and boys are active participants and promoters of change to get rid of the current status quo.
The DA believes that a robust and holistic multi-disciplinary process is needed to combat the scourge of GBV against our women and children including education, awareness and sensitisation campaigns.
A thesis written in Tshivenda with a powerful message against GBV can create awareness and sensitise readers to an understanding of the subject in their mother tongue.
The DA calls on the MEC for Social Development, Nkakareng Rakgoale, to draw inference from Ms Nesengani’s thesis to create awareness to contribute to the prevention of GBV.
The DA thanks Ms Nesengani for her contribution to the fight against GBV and urge all communities to end the silence around Gender Based Violence to end the stigma victims face.