October 7, 2002
By Tendai Dhliwayo
NEARLY 300 men from all over Johannesburg took to the streets of Alexandra on Sunday carrying banners and crosses as a way of repenting against the sins of men.
The march came three weeks after the brutal rape of six-year-old "Lerato", who was nearly disembowelled and left for dead in the veld.
Garbed in sackcloth and carrying crosses describing the sins of men - lust, abuse, greed, rape, murder, child rape and others - marchers left Duduza church in Linbro Park at 12:30 in the afternoon, heading for the spot where the child - now in hospital - was found.
Under the banner of the Men's Repentence March, they appealed in various languages to residents - especially men from the township - "not to be observers but to join the rest of the marchers" as the growing numbers snaked through the narrow streets of Alexandra, following 1st road into London road and going over the freeway before turning into 20th Avenue.
Marching through the narrow streets of Alexandra.
It was a solemn, sombre and emotional moment as the marchers eventually met women who had gathered at the spot where Lerato was raped. Both men and women shed tears as they circled the spot. Among the crowd was Lerato's father.
As a way of "cleansing the place where blood was shed", religious songs were sung, followed by prayers.
"As men, please forgive us for the way we have treated you [women]. We have done wrong and we ask you to forgive us," prayed Pastor Alexander Venter of the Valley Vineyard Church, on behalf of all the men.
After the prayer of confession, all the crosses brought were burnt and money donated by marchers as reparations to Lerato's parents.
Robert Kganyago, one of the march organisers, ended by appealing to people to accept Jesus. "There is fault in every one of us. We don' t operate according to the specifications of God. If we do not repent and humble ourselves before God, we will be like the man who raped Lerato."
According to Kganyago, the march was meant to "ask God for mercy, and to bring to the attention of the public what men are doing".
From the march, said Kganyago, "men are to repent if they see us marching". The march was for men as they " are the guilty ones who have sinned". The marching thus symbolised repenting and was a way of asking God to intervene and stop the madness that has gripped men, causing them to commit heinous and unspeakable deeds like rape.
Sackcloth and smearing faces with ash is "a symbol of mourning and a way of saying 'God we [men] are sorry and we expect You to intervene in the affairs of men who are abusing their positions in society'," said Kganyago. He said this is reminiscent of Old Testament times when prophets would put on sackcloth in mourning when Israel diverted from what it was supposed to do.
Men's sins go up in smoke
Pictures: Tendai Dhliwayo
According to Venter, the march was part of a movement for moral regeneration which should encourage men to take responsibility, to help restore morals in South African and to desist from violent acts.
The march, which included young boys, was intended to help teach them to treat women and children properly when they grow up.
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