Zimpapers Logo

Willard Katsande

KAIZER Chiefs enforcer Willard Katsande has sent out a message of support to all women and children facing gender-based abuse, as he urges unity amongst African people.

KickOff.com attended the inaugural 5km Walk For Good initiative hosted by Vodacom in Midrand, South Africa, on Friday, to show support for the international “16 Days of Activism” campaign against gender-based abuse.

Also in attendance were representatives from Vodacom-sponsored Soweto giants Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates, and we caught up with Katsande to get his sentiments on the initiative.

“The walk was fun. We were demonstrating our support for the fight against women and child abuse obviously,” said Katsande.

“This must be an everyday thing, not only now during the 16 Days of Activism, so that we build a real movement.”

The international campaign runs from November 25 through December 10 and is aimed at encouraging women and children facing trying times in their lives due to domestic violence and abuse.

The 31-year-old Zimbabwean also revealed how he was exposed to such a case when his sister was being abused by her husband back home, and says positive lessons should be learned from those that have come through similar cases.

“Today we are living in the 21st century, but these things have been happening for a long time. I once witnessed some of these things back home when my sister and her husband were fighting,” he revealed.

“It’s not a good feeling obviously, and it’s something that affects the kids in terms of their education. So I witnessed it in my own family and I could see my sister’s kids were a bit affected.

“I’m appealing to everyone being exposed to these kind of situations to learn from other people’s experiences and fight against women and child abuse.

“This is the 21st century; we need to build our nation and we need to build our continent. It’s time for us to unite and fight against abuse.” — Kickoff.com