A complex crisis facing South African men — marked by violence, social pressures and emotional suppression — took centre stage at the inaugural Student Indaba on Masculinities hosted by Nelson Mandela University (NMU) in partnership with the SA Union of Students, the National Association for Student Development Professionals and Higher Health.
The two-day event at NMU’s Business School Auditorium, brought together scholars, student leaders and policymakers to critically examine how masculinity is shaped and how it can evolve to promote gender equity, social justice and constitutional values of human dignity, equality and freedom.
According to the organisers, the indaba aims to create a reflective, scholarly space to interrogate and reimagine masculinities through academic, sociological and gender studies perspectives.
It also seeks to strengthen academic and social discourse on masculinity, promote responsible male identity, and develop collaborative interventions to combat gender-based violence (GBV) and femicide across institutions.
Among the panelists were NMU Prof Babalwa Magoqwana, academic Yanga Lusasa, University of the Western Cape SRC president Mcntosh Khasembe, and NMU academic Prof Nomalanga Mkhize, with Pontsho Hlongwane facilitating the session on Advancing Democratic Values of Human Dignity, Freedom and Equality through Critical and Positive Engagement with Masculinities.
Mkhize highlighted alarming national statistics, saying SA recorded about 20,000 murders annually — 87% of them men.
“A man is seven times more likely to die by homicide than a woman,” Mkhize said.
“To be a man in SA is to likely die of some kind of violence — most often over a weekend, involving alcohol. Twenty thousand deaths a year is a war statistic.”
She noted that the highest rates of male homicide were concentrated in KwaZulu-Natal, the Western Cape, Eastern Cape and Gauteng.
According to Mkhize, universities globally have an average student body that is 60% female, indicating that men are simultaneously “victims of something” while also being “the perpetrators and engines in the social streams”.
“There is a complex and wicked problem — a crisis of males,” she said.
“We need anthropology, biology, and sociology, together with gender theory, to understand how men experience themselves as both victims and perpetrators of violence.”
Mkhize urged institutions to recognise the biological and social phases that boys and young men go through, noting that most male victims of violence are between 15 and 30 years old.
Khasembe, who also serves as deputy president of the SA Union of Students, said redefining masculinity was a “political and moral project”.
“SA’s democracy is founded on human dignity, equality and freedom, yet the socialisation of men often contradicts those ideals,” he said.
“Positive masculinity must align with constitutional values.”
He further highlighted that 80% of suicides in SA were by men, many of whom avoid seeking counselling due to stigma and societal expectations.
“As a male, there’s an expectation that you must solve your own problems,” Khasembe said.
“That suppression often turns into anger, substance dependency or withdrawal.
"I’ve experienced it myself — avoiding counselling, turning instead to alcohol or smoking to cope.”
The indaba is expected to become an annual event, serving as a platform for continued research, dialogue and programmatic interventions to support healthier expressions of masculinity and gender relations across the higher education sector.
The Herald
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