THOHOYANDOU – The Mbokota Boys Choir won the competition that was held to find a song protesting against abuse towards women and children. This competition was initiated by the Thohoyandou Victim Empowerment Programme (TVEP). The competition took place in the Thohoyandou Arts and Culture Centre last Friday.

A song protesting against abuse of women and children was chosen from the many entries that came from as far as Etwatwa-East in the Gauteng Province. According to the TVEP's Media Liaison Officer, Ms Fancy Malapela, this is the culmination of the competition that the TVEP started in September this year, the purpose of which was to search for a song that would not only educate people about abuse, but would mobilise them against it as well.

The Thohoyandou Victim Empowerment Programme has been in the forefront of the struggle against all forms of abuse since its inception in 1998. In the course of its work as a support and empowerment organization, it has encountered a lot of difficulties, but managed to overcome them, always evolving and making good use of the lessons gathered from its few years of experience.

"With a mission to generate an attitude of zero tolerance towards rape and domestic violence in the Thulamela municipality, the TVEP is conducting campaigns in the village, reaching out to schools, crèches and chiefs' kraals to inform people that abuse is not okay and that it has to end," said Malapela.

"But to change people's mentality takes more than a lifetime, and although the campaign has been going on for quite a while, there is still a great need to reach out even more. Taking into consideration South Africans' love of music, the TVEP decided to be a little more creative," Ms Malapela said.

She continued by saying that the TVEP launched a search for a song that tackles abuse, and which will hopefully wake people up to action.

According to Malapela, the panel of judges crowned the Mbokota Boys as the winners of the competition, and it is hoped that the song will carry the TVEP's struggle forward and into the hearts of the people of Thulamela.

Mbokota Boys won a cheque of R10 000 from TVEP and R1 000 from Yvonne Chaka Chaka, a judge who appreciated the song against women and child abuse.