Act now to deal with the masculinity and mental health crisis in South Africa

Mail & Guardian

20-06-2025

suicide as the fourth Death by suicide is the fourth highest cause of death among men aged 15 to 24 in South Africa. Graphic: John McCann/M&G
June is men's mental health month in South Africa. The purpose is to encourage men to seek health services by promoting physical and psychological wellbeing.
A report by the World Health Organisation (WHO) reported suicide as the fourth highest cause of death among men aged 15 to 24 in South Africa. Further, suicide rates are significantly higher among men than women, with 10 861 of the 13 774 suicides reported in 2023 being by men. A number of parasuicides is unrecorded.
Research and practice demonstrate a correlational and causal relationship between the persistence of social ills and the prevalence of mental health conditions, compounded by poor services. Research also shows that young men are more at risk of substance use disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, and other externalising mental health conditions.
There is no evidence to prove there is a link between young people who have died by suicide and are not at institutions of higher learning and training or employed. But there is evidence that proves a close and causal relationship between social ills and mental health. One would assume this is also the case with suicide as a symptom of mental illness such as depression and substance abuse for example.
This takes us to the intersection of these issues, the state of young men in our society, masculinity and mental health.
In May, we learnt of the increase in youth unemployment for the first quarter of 2025. According to Statistics South Africa, 62.4% of young people aged 15 to 24 are unemployed. Further, the University of Cape Town's Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit reported that 30% of young people have not been in education, employment or training for the past decade.
These are not just statistics, these are people with dreams and aspirations. They are our family, friends, neighbours, and we see them every day. They are each and everyone of us. They are the antithesis to President Ramaphosa's Tintswalo. I wish we had more Tintswalos, Mr President. I wish it was the rule and not the exception.
The other aspect of this calamity of unemployment are the psychological ramifications. Social issues such as gender-based violence, intimate partner violence, mass murder and the pervasive violence in our society are to an extent a reflection of our society. While we call for the criminal justice system to act in persecuting offenders, we must equally ask ourselves critical questions about men and masculinity in our society.
We have to do serious introspection and reflection on the society we are building, and the kind of men and manhood it produces. Something is fundamentally wrong in our society. As a psychologist, I have seen this in the gender disparity in the patients I work with on a daily basis. The people who should be in the room are often not there.
The feminist scholar, bell hooks, teaches that regressive forms of masculinity require that men suppress the emotional aspect of themselves, and if they do not do so, other men will. This is evident in state approaches to substance use, violence and crime.
Understanding the family as the basic unit of society, questions are to be asked about the home circumstances under which children grow up in. What conversations are had in our homes about mental health, health seeking behaviour, emotional wellness, consent, sexuality and masculinity?
Further, we must also ask about fathering and fathers in our society. Where do boys learn to be men? The State of South African Fathers report would be an important point of departure.
What role does social media and technology play in shaping manhood and masculinity? In a period of pervasive manosphere, how do we influence what our children, young men and men in general see as expressions of manhood and masculinity? What are the hegemonic narratives on manhood and masculinity?
One may ask: why focus on men when they cause so much harm and pain in our society?
South Africa has one of the highest femicide rates globally, with about seven women to have been murdered daily. We also have one of the highest gender-based violence rates and other forms of violence against women and children.
Equally, our country has one of the highest murder rates, with men being the victim in about 70% of the cases — and it is usually men who are the perpetrators.
Clearly, we have a masculinity problem in our society, and we cannot continue to treat it only as a legal and policing problem. It requires all of us to act, to play a role in shaping the lives of young men. In our homes, neighbourhood, schools, sports fields, churches and all other facets of life.
The Argentine social psychologist, Isaacs Prilleltensky, challenges us to build conducive social conditions of justice as a prerequisite for wellness, without which wellness becomes impossible.
As mental health practitioners, we carry a social responsibility to respond to social issues. In collaboration with communities, organisations and other institutions. We all ought to collectively labour towards a just and free society, and this includes our different professions being rooted at the core of our communities and being agents of change.
Siphelele Nguse is a clinical psychologist, scholar activist, and PhD candidate at Stellenbosch University.