SA Rocks

There’s been a fair amount of hype and peripheral noise about heroes, helping, social obligations and the like over the past few weeks. With doctors, nurses and pharmacists holding illegal strikes in the middle of a recession it is incredibly promising to see stories like this:

A man who who saved a 13-year-old girl from being raped said he was not a hero because “it’s what any ordinary person would do”.

Bernard Erasmus, 30, of Somerset West, said he had not stopped to think about what he was doing.

Erasmus was so determined that he managed to wrestle the attacker’s knife away from him.
The suspect was later arrested and charged with rape.

Police have hailed Erasmus as a hero for taking action when he saw a crime being committed. But they also warned that citizens who intervened to prevent a crime should be certain that they could do so without risking their own lives and without breaking the law.

This is what I meant in my previous post asking the questions: “Where were you and what did you do when South Africa began to degenerate?“. This man saw an act so horrible that he felt that in the face of degeneration of the law and this country he should act. He acted. He stood up, took cognisance of what was going on and saved the future of a child.

Source: IOL

Popularity: 10% [?]

SA Rocks is proudly and positively South African. If you read this blog you’ll know that. But at the same time I am not ignorant or blind and many times in the past I have spoken about troubles that SA incurs.

This is one of those times.

It is Rape Awareness Week at Rhodes University. The below comments were sent to me via Facebook by a friend of mine.

On Wednesday 30 April, myself and 149 other female Rhodes University students will be taping our mouths shut from 7am until 6pm in solidarity with women who have survived rape. We will go without food and water for the whole day. At present in South Africa, rape rates are soaring with little or no acknowledgment from the government about the crisis on our hands. The levels of violence against women are intolerable and the lack of support structures for survivors of violence worsens an already poor situation. At present, every 26 seconds a woman in South Africa is raped. Of those, only 1 in 9 reports the rape. Of those women, few are successful at trial because they are put on trial by prosecutors and asked why they wore what they did, said what they did or went where they went. This is not acceptable. The continued violence against women must be stopped.

On Wednesday, please take the time to think about those women who are brave survivors of violence, rape, hatred, subordination and oppression. This violence takes place under the facade of democratic freedoms that we are believed to have here. Do not practice quiet diplomacy – speak out about this violence.

‘When you don’t speak out against injustice, you are complicit in its perpetuation.

Jen Thorpe

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Keeping with the product week here at SA Rocks I’ve chosen to be fairly out there and controversial with today’s product.

Rape-Axe is a product developed by a South African as an anti-rape female condom. Let’s go to the creators for an explanation of this product:

It is absurd that women and children In this day and age still fall prey to opportunistic sexual predators. When will they be empowered? When will they be heard? Never, it seems! There always appears to be a more important issue to be addressed in legislature.

The tear-filled eyes and extreme vulnerability of one such rape victim is what sparked the design of this modern day invention. The victim looked up at Sonnet Ehlers and said, ‘If only had teeth down there!’ These were the humble beginnings of a device which proves to bring hope to women all over the world – those women who still find themselves with little or no rights at all. Why does the system make these women, these victims, feel like the offenders? In many societies these women are treated like offenders! This must stop! It. in fact, stops here! Rape-aXe is a device which latches itself to the skin of the attacker, causing immense discomfort, allowing the victim to escape. The attacker is ‘branded’ a rapist! Since the attacker will need medical assistance, there is no escaping arrest since medical staff will alert the authorities.

The reason that I chose to write about this product is partially due to the high rape statistics that we have here in SA. But the main reason that I wanted to write about this product is that rape is not a problem local to SA and it is impressive and pleasing to me that there are South Africans who are trying to innovate for the world. Rape is a problem that many deal with daily and the long terms effects are devastating, this is well known. But many people wonder about the preventative measures that can be taken. This is one of them.

There have been substantial and very legitimate objections to the mass production of this product, Wikipedia lists some of them:

It is like we are going back to the days where women were forced to wear chastity belts. It is a terrifying thought that women are being made to adapt to rape by wearing these devices … Women would have to wear this every minute of their lives on the off-chance that they would be raped.
—Lisa Vetten (Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation, South Africa)

This is a medieval instrument, based on male-hating notions and fundamentally misunderstands the nature of rape and violence against women in this society.
—Charlene Smith

My opinion is that a long term solution should be provided rather than a temporary “fix” for this problem. Women should not be put in a position where this sort of device is necessary, ever. Yet the problem exists and some would answer Rape-Axe will act as a deterrent. You make up your own mind and let me know what you think.

Popularity: 4% [?]

I am not sure if you’ve seen the advert on TV or online. I hadn’t until yesterday. I had heard about it and think it’s a great idea and concept in theory.

I managed to see the video at Bizcommunity. GO and take a look at the advert. It is a smart and fairly moving one.

From Bizcommunity:

The 45-second commercial shows Zola talking about all the great things that have happened in South Africa, including the recent rugby world cup win. Whilst talking to the camera, he is folding a South African flag, which he then puts away in drawer. Zola says he loves South Africa, but is not proud to be a South African man, because every year South African men rape 500 000 women.

I do take issue to some of it however. Not the stats, not the concept and not the advert itself. It’s the way things are phrased in the advert. I am proud to be a South African man. Zola says that he isn’t. Don’t lump with the masses that rape. I am not a rapist. Yes there are way too many rapes occuring, one is too many, but that doesn’t mean that all South African men are rapists and ashamed to be men.

The other issue I have with this advert is that unfortunately it reaches, in my opinion, the wrong people. The advert itself would be stunningly effective it was received on a mass scale, but I doubt that is the case at all. I think the wrong men are seeing the advert and the guild is being put in the wrong place on the wrong people’s head. Awareness is fantastic and necessary but not necessarily a solution.

I am incredibly impressed with The Jupiter Drawing Room however as they take on all the cost of the advert as part of their commitment to raising awareness. Brilliant and admirable and much needed.

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I am watching the Carte Blanche documentary about crime in SA. I have been told that this documentary was showed on British television last night.

My impression: The doc is sensationalist, just look at the title: South Africa, Murder Most Foul. The host is trying too hard to make SA appear to be a war zone all day every day for everyone in the entire country.

The documentary is effective, real, eye-opening, effective and true. It is not everyone’s truth.

Quotes like “Violence has always been a way of life in SA” are bullshit and misleading. The author only talks about guns, drugs, and gangs. This is all that he can go on about. It is more complicated than this man is letting on.

Desmond Tutu was interviewed, great move on the docs behalf. He adds humility and a softer face to the issue.

One of the focuses of the documentary is the murder of Brett Goldin and Richard Bloom. Their execution-style murder was horrific, shocking and unacceptable. This documentary has definitely done one thing right and that is share the exposure. I am extremely glad that Jon Blair chose to put a wide variety of people from various backgrounds in the documentary. Crime affects more people of colour in SA that whites. That is a fact without a doubt (I don’t have statistics) and I think that very often white people complain and the world believes that the violence in SA is black on white. But this is not true, it happens, but it is not the only kind of violence and is definitely not the most widely seen violence.

I am torn about this sort of documentary. On one hand I don’t want the world to see this sort of publicity. It is bad for our image, it is not entirely true and not entirely representative.

On the other hand I don’t want anyone in the world or in SA to say that they never knew that people were dying, being murdered, raped and molested. Let the world know that there is a crisis in our country and maybe they can make a difference because the issue is fast become (has become) too much for our systems to manage.

Did you see the documentary? What are your thoughts?

UPDATE: The documentary is almost over. I am moved I must admit. I am upset by what I have seen. Not because I wasn’t aware of the extend of the situation that our country finds itself, but because I have let myself forget much of it for whatever reason or not. I am not blind or ignorant and the documentary has made me feel that this blog and initiatives like it are necessary now more than ever. We need to stand up, expose the wrongdoings and make things right. Even if it is one person at a time or one mindset at a time we need to try.

One thing that I would like to do more of is hands on work. I want to get out in to the country and make a physical, visible difference. In that respect I think I am falling somewhat short considering my privileged position.

UPDATE: SA Murder Most Foul will be broadcast tonight (Sunday 7 October) at 9pm on DStv Channel 150.

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