Moleki Moleki, a pastor and skilled strategist, will on Saturday facilitate the activation of the first Father’s Dialogue.
A brainchild of Sidwell Phutheho who founded the Empowerment Foundation, the Father’s Dialogue tackles issues such as mental health, being a present father, dealing with past trauma and gender-based violence (GBV).
It will be launched at the Nyala Lodge in Pretoria.
“The unfortunate murder of Karabo Mokoena prompted me to be a GBV activist, this is where a real Men’s Conference was launched. I invited key speakers who engaged with men and challenged the behavioural patterns around GBV.” Phutheho said.
In 2022, Phutheho launched the first father and son and daughter camps. “The camps are where we learned that we need to address men’s behaviour from childhood.”
He believes that evil prevails when good men do and say nothing. “Even if we transform one man at a time to become a GBV activist, that [will be proof that] we are winning,” he said.
The activations take place annually. “We want to start with fathers to prepare them accordingly, then have a father and son camp and finally [host] a father and daughter camp.
“All of these activations will be beyond bonding moments and a big contribution to building a society that is safe, caring, loving and inclusive.”
Phutheho has hopes of working with government in his future activations.
He said: “I have engaged with the Department of Social Development in 2020, but only one Gauteng government office called me to arrange two of the speakers that we had for the Men’s Conference to address their men at work on GBV.
“This was a virtual presentation, however, other avenues to get government involved have been fruitless. I have decided to continue with these activations with or without the help of Social Development.
“We are confident that over time help will come our way, as the Lindani Sigxashe Foundation joined me last year and are now partners in this journey. I believe that many more will be drawn to this vision to fight social ills.”
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