The Great South African Man-Drought: Are We Still Here, Or Just Taking Up Space?

Masculinity

The Great South African Man-Drought: Are We Still Here, Or Just Taking Up Space?

By MoAfrika Skotch Ntilane — 24 May 2025

Let's call a spade a spade, our townships, from windblown Khayelitsha flats to Thembisa's sprawling concrete jungle, are experiencing a bad dose of "Leadership Vapour-Lock" among the brothers right now. It's as though someone has pushed the panic button on the self-actualization train for half the brothers. The air is filled with... well, with anything but actual, good leadership.

The WiFi Zoo, The Soapie Sages & The Silence of Real Life

Then you come to town, or even just the taxi rank locally with a router that works. Our men, clustered together like stunned, great baboons at the nearest available WiFi node. Their faces illuminated by blue light of a screen, totally immersed in the virtual reality. We've learned to be spectators of our own lives, deeply interested in artificial drama and pompous glory, while real survival and progress go on about us.

Stepping Into Leadership

It is in this void that I feel compelled to act. Not to occupy a pedestal, not to claim glory, but to model what has been absent. To speak, to teach, to intervene, to be present in ways that counteract the emptiness. The pull I feel is not ego. It is responsibility. It is the internal recognition that standing still, silent, is no longer acceptable.