Al Jamah-ah leader urges men to take up responsibility in families

March 14, 2024 85

Al Jamah-ah leader, Ganief Hendricks, says the South African society needs to be transformed and for the concept of fatherhood to be practiced by all South Africans irrespective of their religion.

Fatherhood, as Hendricks describes it, is a concept that calls for men in the immediate and extended families to take financial responsibility for the women in their lives.

This concept, which he says comes from the Islamic faith, is something Hendricks believes was also promoted and practiced by the late ANC’s former president-general, Chief Albert Luthuli.

The Al Jamah-ah leader first shared this concept at the weekend during the launch of the party’s election manifesto in the south of Johannesburg.

His assertion caused confusion on social media after some understood it as though he was calling for women to just stay at home and have no aspirations for a job or running a company.

Hendricks, however, says women can work if they desire to, but their income is only theirs and not for the household.

He believes that a man cannot stay at home and expect the woman to provide.

On his thoughts on households where women are breadwinners due to various reasons, Hendricks says this simply means that the men within those individuals’ extended families are not fulfilling their responsibilities.

He has questioned why none of the country’s MPs have ever come up with a policy that caters specifically for the family, while also urging young men not to shy away from their responsibilities.