Men should open up and talk about their troubles instead of letting them eat away at them to the point that they become angry and violent.

This was one of the key messages of a conference, with the theme Make Men Great Again, held by the Etafeni Day Care Trust at the Zolani Sport and Recreation Centre, last Thursday and Friday.

About 200 men from Nyanga and surrounds took part in the two-day event held exclusively for men to voice their concerns about everything from their love life and health issues to substance abuse, HIV/Aids, domestic violence, mental health and men's treatment by the police.

Etafeni programme manager Zoliswa Mbekwa-Ncamani said unemployment, substance abuse and a lack of information and resources were among the many things that fuelled domestic violence, and the goal of the conference was to promote positive development through dialogue and education.

“With the men’s conference, we want to offer a safe space where men can engage and hopefully get a lot of information, knowledge and resources to be able to uplift themselves to be better men to win the war on GBV,” she said.

“We want to say to men they are more than welcome to come to Etafeni and get some of our programmes that we offer. We’ve got eight programmes and a lot of those offer programmes that men will find relevant."

Such services, she said, included one-on-one counselling with a social worker and courses in food gardening, computer training and sewing.

One of the conference’s key sessions focused on understanding and managing anger as a way to prevent domestic violence.

Mawonga Gala, from the provincial Department of Social Development’s Philippi office, urged men not to bottle up their emotions as that could lead to frustration and violence.

Resident Brain Sombo said men were vulnerable, and there were few they could turn to when they needed help.

Unemployment and a lack of resources were big problems for men, but so too was the law's failure to protect men, he said, claiming the law seemed to favour women over men and that women who victimised men were not arrested.

Luvuyo Zahela, a programme manager from the Cesvi Foundation, advised men to prioritise their health by going for regular check-ups.

Brain Sombo said men were vulnerable, and there were few they could turn to when they needed help.

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Conference urges men to talk about their troubles