Hey! Hello you, ain’t you tired? Well for me, from my side, I am tired! The hate they give to the women in South Africa, the hate! The practical brutality the women in this country receive is unbearable. The opposite gender is tearing everything apart; men in this country are becoming more deadly like hungry hyenas!

Bafethu kgane ba sentse eng? (What wrongs do ladies do?) Every day the story is the same. SABC news headlines: a woman raped and murdered. No! No! No! I don’t want to hear that any more, I am finished, I am exhausted, I am not ready to hear any more. They are killing and raping like never before, uncles, why? Re a bafetsa bafethu, potšišo ke gore re nyaka go bona eng? (What do we want to see?)

They try to take care of our children. They make sure they take care of our needs. We are clean because they do our laundry, and they prepare food for us. They are loyal. Yes! Yes, they are loyal, most women are more loyal than men, face it.
We cheat on them and they find out, we stab them. We run away from responsibilities. We shame them. We insult them. We harass them sexually on daily basis. Basetsana ba palla ko reka borotho ko makuleng bafethu. (They can’t even buy bread at local stores.)

Gentlemen, those are our siblings, that’s my sister, bro, that’s my cousin you’re body-shaming, bro. Hell, that’s my mother you’re killing, man! That’s my mother! That’s my mother! Are we not tired of this, gentlemen? Enough ain’t enough? Aren’t you all exhausted? We are changing the nature of vital relationships.
We say they are gold diggers but ba bangwe ba lokile, bro, ba bangwe ba rata ka nnete, bro (some are genuine with their intentions, they have true love.) My girlfriend knows that I’ll never raise my hand to her. If she cheats on me it’s fine, I won’t kill her, no, I’ll heal and find someone better, I’m telling you, I’ll find another one who will be genuine. Ake roge girlfriend yaka nna, ka morata. (I don’t insult my girlfriend, I love her.)

Not all men are monsters. Some know the principles of taking good care of women. I know men who respect women. I know a guy who was accused of rape, I know a guy who was killed by a woman. I know someone who was stabbed by his girlfriend, his girlfriend, bro. But the majority of men think raping kids, it’s a hobby. That’s not what leaders do, man. That’s brutality, that’s extinction of the mothers, bafethu. I raise my right hand, I call this thing to stop, we are tired. I am exhausted. I believe most people are exhausted.
I believe people who are reading this, they realise the need to stop. Let’s stop, bafethu. I love you all. I love South Africa, but I’m tired, bafethu.

Tell us: What did you learn from this essay?