Pursuant to Tekano’s mandated commitment to health equity and to catalyse debates that re-imagine and promote action to increase health equity, The ReaBua Critical Dialogues comprised a campaign that began on 9 August 2021 and culminated in September 2021 with a day of critical dialogues at which politically informed and socially conscious leaders from various sectors discussed historic and current structural, economic, social and cultural barriers to the attainment of health equity. The ReaBua Critical Dialogues campaign recognized critical milestones of women’s contributions to the realization of an inclusive and more equitable South Africa, including Women’s Day on 9 August, Heritage Day on 24 September and also recognized Winnie Madikizela-Mandela’s 85th birthday on 26 September 2021.
Speakers at The ReaBua Critical Dialogues, included Dr Tracy Naledi, Tekano Board Chairperson, Ms Sipho Mthathi, Tekano Board Member, Ms Lebogang Ramafoko, Tekano Chief Executive, Egyptian feminist Mona Eltahawy, musician Thandiswa Mazwai, author Sisonke Msimang, Dr Makgoale Magwentshu, and other leading social change leaders, spoke to the themes of health equity and erasure across various disciplines.
When I grew up, I was often told that I talk too much, especially for a girl. I was told I will never find a husband to marry me because I am stubborn, argumentative and question everything. I was a smart girl and often in my Sub A class the teacher would ask me to “teach” the class but when I did wrong I was told it is because I think I am smart. These mixed messages and being told I was “wrong” in the way I thought, the way, I expressed myself as a girl worried me until I came across a magazine called Agenda. Suddenly, it gave expression to this confusion and self-hate I was developing for being told often how wrong I was in just being myself. I learnt about feminisim, patriarchy and that women had a voice. Suddenly, I did not feel alone. There were words that described who I was and why I was being told I was a problem. The REABUA Critical DIALOGUES are personal for me. They speak of a legacy of ERASURE of the contribution of women by the Apartheid system and the system of patriarchy evident in democratic South Africa. It is a reminder of the work that needs to be done and the many others who are still marginalised and forgotten. It is also a celebration of the resilience of women, their legacy building and the gifts that those who came before us left us. Memory is a gift; it is a strong signal to those left behind when they suffer the same fate, to remember what the struggle is for, to not be deterred by the insults, marginalisation and erasure. Memory is a gift because it reminds us of whose shoulders we stand on, the strength of those who birthed us and even though we stand alone, or may be persecuted, we know we are not alone.
