A look into the future with me having a conversation with my future 5 year old daughter
Hey nana, I call out to her
Annoyed by the name I called her out by
She looks at me with that tiny afro-crossed face and yells out
“Ah Ah”
Ke eng nana? I ask patiently –
My name is Karabo she corrects me
Lost out of sight she spots a bee flying past her and immediately runs towards me
I pick her up and grab her in my safe arms
At that moment, nothing else mattered
I was at the right place with the cosmos having conspired for this
I tell her to calm down as everything is OK – “I’m here nana”
The little scared expression on her face was enough to immediately get me to
pull out all my defence instincts
At that moment, that mini glimpse of the futuristic blessings that are yet to come my way
suddenly stopped and I was back to reality
I was in my kitchen making breakfast.
I was spreading some jam on a slice of toasted brown bread
I had prepared myself a cup of rooibos tea with no sugar or milk added
I turn to the news on the TV
and the news reader is reporting on yet another case of a man killing his girlfriend
The femicide stats were that at least 6 women get killed every five hours in our country
After my split encounter with my little Karabo and now hearing the breaking news
I fell down to my knees and looked up to the sky and cried out
We need to do something
We need to act or else this will continue and worsen
I’m gonna stand for all the gorgeous female souls out there
I’m gonna stand and fight for Karabo to be able to walk down the street
and not fear that the next pervet will whistle at her – calling her names
and yelling insults at her for not advancing his requests
We all need to do something as men – we need to take a stand
