EDITOR – “Nkadzi wangu linga nhilili dzawakapfuwa, baka mwana we linga nhilili dzawakalela….ndozwituma zwonda zwinanayila zwatindibala.”
These are part of lyrics in a Kalanga song by DJ Phutty.
In English this can be literary translated to mean: “My dear wife, look at the wild cats you reared. 
“When I send them, they drag their feet.”
This is exactly what’s happening in many families.
In this world we live in, particularly Africa, we find men pouncing on the girl-child. I wouldn’t say ‘vulnerable girl-child only’ although these are the most affected.
Men sexually abuse future mothers of our nations.
We often have a keen interest on a girl-child forgetting that the boy-child is equally valuable in society.
Journalists are biased toward the girl-child.
Boys also find themselves in the same predicament.
But why do men abuse girls?
Who should we put the blame on?
Not all sexual abuse cases are violence-related.
Sometimes these girls initiate circumstances.
However, an African child, properly raised in an African set-up, has principles properly laid down.
She knows who to date and when.
We often blame men, forgetting we, as parents or guardians have a fundamental role to play in shaping the behaviour of the future generation.
But why is this impossible?
Children of today are big-headed and have ‘rights’.
You try to show children the way, they will remind you of their rights.
Non-governmental organisations and Trusts from Western Countries come to Africa to teach our children ‘rights’.
What rights and whose rights?
Who taught the Joshua Nkomos and Thabo Mbekis rights?
Children have been alienated from us, they are uncontrollable.
They throng city bars where imbibers abound.
I don’t condone sexual abuse, neither do I wish it on anyone, but let Africans mould their children in an African way that they understand.

Philasande Mandla Malinga,
Plumtree