Cape Town - On the eve of Women’s Month, a young Mfuleni mother has relived the brutal attack on her in front of her toddler, allegedly by her ex-boyfriend -- and the child’s father.
The assault on Zikhona Tongo in the street was carried out with a beer bottle while she was on her way home from a friend's house.
The attack was so severe she may suffer from permanent seizures due to head injuries.
The 26-year-old from Burundi informal settlement was walking home at around 8pm on July 24 when she was hit on the head several times, until she collapsed in the road.
The 28-year-old accused who was arrested for assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm appeared in the Blue Downs Magistrate’s Court on Monday, according to police spokesperson Wesley Twigg.
It was not the first time she had been assaulted, and the perpetrator’s family knew it, Tongo told the Cape Times.
“He said (to me) that he has been looking for me, but I did not understand because he knows where to get me if I am not at home. He knows where my friends stay and he usually goes there when he wants to see me, and then after, we started arguing and he was drunk at the time.
“He started beating me and I fought back. As we were fighting he picked up an empty bottle of beer and hit me on my head.
“I started to lose balance and fell down and that is when I became unconscious. I don't know how many times he hit me with the empty bottle because I was unconscious and my ears, eyes, and head were bleeding.
“My daughter was watching all of this, as it happened in front of her. After he was done beating me, he ran away. He thought that I was dead,” she said.
“My daughter ran to my mother and told her that I had been beaten by her father, and I am sure she, too, thought that I was dead, because I was told that she was screaming and crying while going home to report.
“I woke up at the Khayelitsha District Hospital and I was told by the nurses that I would be transferred to Tygerberg Hospital because my head was severely injured. Within three minutes an ambulance arrived and I was taken to Tygerberg Hospital, where they drained blood on my head.
“I was there for days and, before I was released, I was given some pills and told that I might suffer from seizures due to the damage to my head.
“My fear is that I might suffer from permanent seizures and that will negatively affect me at work. My mother depends on grant money. I am the breadwinner at home, but now it seems like I will have to stay at home due to my health,” said Tongo.
Addressing the official Women’s Day commemoration in KwaZulu-Natal, President Cyril Ramaphosa described gender-based violence as a stain on yesterday’s celebrations.
“Hardly a day goes by in this country without a report of women being attacked, being violated, and being killed by men. This cannot continue.
“The women of South Africa have had enough of being afraid. We should not see this as a women’s problem, when it is in fact inkinga yamadoda, a men’s problem. It is a problem of men with no respect for women, who feel they can do what they like with their girlfriends or partners because they buy them airtime or groceries. It is a problem of men who lack the maturity to accept the end of a relationship, and hunt down their ex-wives or ex-girlfriends,” he said.
Ramaphosa said abused women should break their silence.
“Silence is no longer an option.Silence is the dark corner in which women and children are abused, beaten, raped, and killed. Silence is the dark cloud under which men allow their friends to ill-treat women, children and members of the LGBTQIA+ community as a display of their manliness. Silence is the cancer that eats away at women who protect their husbands, sons, partners and boyfriends who abuse them, their children, and other women because they are financially dependent.”
Ilitha labantu spokesperson Siyabulela Monakali said the criminal justice system needed to play its part in imposing harsher sentences on those found guilty of violating the rights and dignity of women, children and vulnerable persons.
“South Africa needs to implement more proactive approaches rather than continuing on its reactive stance, which has been counter-intuitive. More emphasis needs to be placed on education, training and awareness. This will help to bring a greater sense of enlightenment amongst members of our communities about their rights, and how to effectively address the scourge of violence,” said Monakali.
Cape Times