As South Africa confronts a gender-based violence crisis five times higher than the global average, bestselling author and men’s development expert Craig Wilkinson is delivering a bold, provocative message: the country doesn’t need less masculinity; it needs healthy masculinity.
Wilkinson’s call lands at a critical moment. With Women For Change planning a national shutdown ahead of the G20 summit and the country preparing for International Men’s Day and 16 Days of Activism, Wilkinson says the fight cannot be won by women alone.
“Men are made to be dangerous, and the world is safer when that danger is used for good,” he argues. “The issue isn’t toxic masculinity. It’s the absence of true, positive, healthy masculinity.”
Speaking at the National Dialogue on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF) in Pretoria, where government leaders, law enforcement heads, and NGOs gathered for the launch of the SIU’s first GBVF Responder Programme, Wilkinson warned that South Africa cannot end GBV if men remain passive.
“The opposite of masculinity is passivity,” he told delegates. “Men are made to be powerful, but that power must serve others. It must protect.”
Pledge of healthy masculinity
In a defining moment, Wilkinson asked every man in the room to rise, raise a fist, and take a pledge a symbolic commitment to rebuilding trust and restoring safety: “I’m a man. My mandate is to break cycles of abuse… I pledge to never be silent, to always take action against abuse … to be an ally, a role model, and an activist against any form of abuse.”
Wilkinson’s message ties directly to the central argument in his new book, Force for Good: The Power of Healthy Masculinity. He writes that when men are disconnected from purpose and never taught to channel their strength, they become part of the problem instead of the solution.
His warning is backed by data. A recent HSRC study linked South Africa’s rising GBV rates to a growing men’s mental health crisis, an issue often overlooked in policy debates.
“Awareness campaigns and policing are vital, but they don’t address the root cause,” Wilkinson says. “No boy is born an abuser. But an unmentored, unfathered, unhealed man becomes dangerous in all the wrong ways.”
No room for apathy
He argues that healthy, whole men do not harm, they protect. And right now, South Africa cannot afford a generation of disconnected, apathetic men.
Wilkinson believes the rise of men committed to being a Force For Good is central to rebuilding a moral foundation in homes, communities, and the nation at large.
“When men understand that their role is to serve, not dominate, they become agents of change. Every man has a choice, to harm or to heal. And the future of this country depends on more men choosing to heal.”
Through his organisation, Father A Nation (FAN), Wilkinson has already reached more than 400,000 men and boys through mentorship and leadership programmes in schools, communities and workplaces.
