Power, Sex and South African

Those patterns which fascinate your correspondent keep on emerging. The latest to spark interest is the number of sex related scandals coming out of that country and the underlying attitudes.
It is almost ironic that a country striving to rebuild after throwing off the shackles of white oppression should fall so easily into gender oppression. It is all, it would appear, about sex being a weapon or a power trip.

Most recent is the revelation of the KwaZulu-Natal Province Culture Minister’s fling with a Durban socialite. The hapless minister, Narend Singh, was forced to resign over what was a consensual sex episode.
The whole episode looks to have been a set up and the former minister was hounded out by a storm of dubious moral outrage. The issue should have been between Him, his family and the Durban frock shop owner, not the ever present moral police.

By contrast, and underlining the vast double standards at work, former deputy president Jacob Zuma is accused of raping the 31-year-old woman at his Johannesburg home in November.
He denies the allegation and says the two had consensual and unprotected sex, and along with his many supporters is having a field day.
Rape of not, Zuma’s admission of ‘unprotected sex’ should say something about a man who headed the Moral Regeneration Campaign and the South African Aids Council, whose message is ABC (Abstain, Be faithful and Condomise).

Rape is reported to occur in South Africa every five minutes.

The real dilemma for this country, steeped in double standards, is not a question of morality but of the use sex as a ‘power trip’ and the unrestrained spread of Aids throughout the country.
On the second point, "In South Africa, Zambia or Zimbabwe women between 15 and 24 years of age are three to six times more likely to get infected with HIV than men are,” according to Dr. Wolfgang Rennert, an assistant professor in the Department of Pediatrics at Georgetown University Hospital.
He added, “They are more likely to have been forced to have sex before their 16th birthday and more likely to drop out of school. And they are often subjected to cultural norms that define them through their ability to bear children.”

An excerpt from an article by Pregs Govender and referring to Zuma’s alleged vicytim:
“In our country, where violence against women and girls is widespread, a rape survivor used her democratic right to charge her alleged perpetrator, a very powerful man.
For her courage she has paid a very high price.
Her home has been burgled and ransacked twice, she and her mother have faced death threats, and she has lost her freedom as she has been forced to seek police protection. Under the protection of the state, her police “minder” tried to “persuade” her to drop the charge.
“…Supporters of the alleged perpetrator, wearing “100% Zulu Boy” T-shirts, burnt her photocopied photograph with her name clearly displayed as they chanted “burn the bitch”
“…In this same week, the grand-daughter of the judge who had issued the search warrants in the arms-deal corruption case against Jacob Zuma was murdered by thugs who gang-raped the childminder. When the child’s body was found she was half-naked.
“…In a society where most girls’ first sexual experience is one of coercion, rape is confused with sex. We can use this moment to clarify the distinction between sex and rape — rape is the abuse of power, in which the penis, instead of creating mutual pleasure, is used, among other things, as a weapon of war. We can clarify and change the power inequalities and definitions of masculinity that increase levels of HIV infection. We can affirm that women and children are not objects to be owned and disposed of as men please.

A 1999 survey carried out in the South African city of Johannesburg has uncovered an alarming picture of sexual violence.
One in three of the 4,000 women questioned by CIET Africa, non-governmental organisation, said they had been raped in the previous year.
In a related survey conducted among 1,500 schoolchildren in the Soweto township, a quarter of all the boys interviewed said that 'jackrolling' - a South African term for recreational gang rape - was fun.

Teaching them youngThere is nothing like example to teach the young about social behaviour:
The head boy of a rural high school in the Northern Free State has lost his title after allegedly sexually harassing schoolgirls.
The boy among other things apparently sent naked photographs of himself to some of these girls with his cellphone.
Two of them were receiving counselling to help them cope with the traumatic experience.
One of the parents said some of the Grade 11 pupils who had been drinking at a rugby day last year, were forbidden to make themselves available as candidates for the student council. "I'm not in favour of drinking, but blatant sexual harassment surely deserves a harsher punishment."
Note the reference to rugby, but read any of the high power male sports. In SA it is rugby and from a recent news piece:
SA Rugby managing director Johan Prinsloo confirmed that the union had received two anonymous letters, believed to be from a player in the union, telling of orgies and adultery at the Bosman Stadium in Brakpan, involving players, coaches and officials.

Building a new South Africa out of the disaster of Apartheid was never going to be an easy process. The initial example of those two great men, Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu set a path which sadly has not held up.
The promise of their vision has degenerated to the lowest social imperatives, in many ways. But the problems faced by that country are not unique to them. Sexual abuse is alive and well and subject to double standards thoughout the world.