Former Polokwane City goalkeeper Harold Ndlovu has given a red card to all forms of violences against women and girls

Ndlovu took the time to visit Polonia Primary School in Garankuwa on Thursday as part of a women’s month event in partnership with TUT Sport and Recreation, Boots For Africa, TM Active and ARDN Red Card.

Former Bafana Bafana midfielder Teboho Mokoena also graced the occasion, which aims to raise awareness about the huge problem in South Africa of violence against women and children.

Ndlovu has since called on the government to invest more resources into education about gender-based violence.

“The issue of gender-based violence is really disturbing. You wake up every day to the news that a young girl, a woman or old woman has been abused, killed and raped. It’s really disturbing,” Ndlovu tells KickOff.com.

“We need to take a stance. We need fight this together and everyone must understand that we have a task and responsibility to make sure we watch the next person because everywhere ekasi in our society knows someone that has raped someone, someone that has been raped and someone that has been abused, and the list goes on.

“This has to change. If you know something has happened to someone, you don’t need to keep the information, you need to expose these kind of challenges so that people know they are not supposed to do these things.

“The government also needs to invest in education about gender-based violence and try to educate everyone about the issue. It should be taken seriously. The more we delay, the more we take time and don’t act, the more it’s growing and affecting us.

“Imagine waking up every day on the news that a toddler has been raped and killed. A toddler for God’s sake! How sick are we? How long are we going to ignore these things? An old woman has been raped and killed and how long are we going to turn a blind eye and not face reality? It is time we stand up and take responsibility.”

ARDN Red Card spokesperson Lereto Nkuna has appealed to other soccer players to help spread awareness about gender-based violence.

“We hope to share our message of ‘Giving A Red Card’ to all forms of discrimination and violence against women and children with our current series of activations,” Nkuna adds.

“The ultimate hope is that we can have a school programme that will educate learners on the importance of gender equality, self-respect and the respect of others.

“Having athletes such as Mr Harold Ndlovu creates excitement and willingness to learn, especially with our boy children, so we’re very grateful for his support.”

Meanwhile, Ndlovu has thanked Boots For Africa for their initiative to develop sport at grassroots level.

“I would love to give compliments to Boots for Africa for this initiative of changing lives and affording everyone and people who are less fortunate and don’t have equipment like soccer boots and soccer balls.

“Boots For Africa is trying to close that gap and make sure the people who love sport get an opportunity to have equipment donated to them.

“This initiative is willing to touch every part of Africa to make sure every child in Africa has sporting equipment and is able to make pursue their career or talent in sport.”

Boots For Africa director Gavin Hendry says their aim is to collect one million soccer boots across the world and donate them to underprivileged communities across Africa.

Source: https: //www.kickoff.com/