Flo Masebe on the rate of GBV in SA

As gender-based violence (GBV) and femicide cases continue to increase in SA, veteran actress Florence Masebe has reflected on a sad encounter with a grieving mother who lost her two daughters at the hands of their father.

The veteran actress took to Twitter over the weekend to reveal that she spoke to a mourning mother earlier in the week who told her a horrifying story.

She told Mme Flo how the father of her two daughters set fire to their home and burnt  their children alive.

Flo said the father later killed himself. 

Although the former Muvhango star couldn't delve deeper into the grieving mother's story, in December she ignited a conversation about GBV in the arts industry.

She took to Twitter to open up the discussion, using an organisation called Youth Lab's handle to speak about violence against women in the industry and the fight to keep women and girls safe on set.

The actress made some strong points that ignited serious conversations on the TL.

“We need to make enough noise until producers and channels stop rewarding abusive men with leading roles and billboards,” was the strong message from the actress during her hour-long discussion.

She explained that she accepted the invitation by Youth Lab to make use of its platform because the “GBV in the arts” conversation hugely affects young artists.

“They have me tweeting on a #YouthLab platform. Am I youth? Far from it. I'm old enough to be called mother and perhaps even grandmother by some of you here. So, why am I here? You might be wondering. The answer is simple. To start a conversation that affects the young often.”

Florence said during  the #16DaysOfActivism2020, she wanted South Africans to think about the forms of violence against women that practitioners in the arts suffer.

“Mostly in silence, because there doesn't seem to be a reliable system for recourse should they decide to speak up.”