“It’s an honour to win and to be recognised for the little effort that we put into our University,” said Nhlakanipho Zulu, Durban University of Technology (DUT) Interior Design student, who won the first prize.

DUT HIV and AIDS Centre Manager, Thobile Zulu thanked students for their effort in helping the Centre with T-Shirt designs and the wonderful messages made for silent protest that was held on O3 October 2018, at DUT Steve Biko Campus. Winners gathered at the HIV and AIDS Centre to receive their awards.

The Silent Protest is a campaign against Gender Based Violence (GBV) that aims to raise awareness and show solidarity with survivors of GBV. Considering the recent rise in violence directed at women and girls in South Africa, the silent protest event includes a march and demonstrations with the aim of creating awareness.

“This year we decided to involve students to help us with the design so that they could own the event because it is their event. It went very well despite the bad weather, and students came out in numbers and marched against Gender Based Violence,” said Zulu.

She added that the silent protest helped many students who are victims and survivors of GBV to speak out and take action against violence against them.

One of the winners, Nqobile Shange said, “I entered this competition because I wanted to be the voice for the voiceless as most of us are scared to speak out. There are many people who do not speak about their experiences because even when you have reported the abuse police do not believe you without proof, they make it seem like it was your fault and you go through the trauma all over again.”

Njabulo Mncwabe who was also a winner, said that he was grateful that they were given an opportunity to show their creativity in a way that teaches the public about GBV issues.

“Besides the price, as a man I felt like I needed to take a stand and act against GBV and show that not all men are perpetrators of violence,” he concluded .

Pictured: One of the winners with the HIV and AIDS Centre Manager, Thobile Zulu.

Harvest Thwala