Lorato Tshenkeng
Pretoria - “As a nation, we are abruptly woken up from our slumber when these (killing of women and girls) heinous crimes are committed. We are outraged by the brutality and wonder whether these things are really happening in South Africa. Sadly, we succumb to our slumber again and again, believing that nothing is happening in between. It takes a Karabo Mokoena or Zolile Khumalo or Uyinene Mrwetyana to wake us up.”
These were the words of Deputy Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology, Buti Manamela, addressing mourners at the funeral of Uyinene Mrwetyana in East London, Eastern Cape province, on September 7, 2019. Mrwetyana was only 19 and a film and media studies student at UCT when she was raped and brutally killed by a man.
Last Thursday, the family of another young woman, 21-year-old Ntokozo Xaba, woke up to the body of the Tshwane University of Technology student being found with multiple stab wounds at her off-campus residence in Pretoria.
It is reported Xaba may have lost her young life at the hands of a man – an ex-boyfriend. While the police must be allowed to do their jobs, it would not be surprising if Xaba’s case is concluded as one of femicide because in our country, sadly, this kind of brutality on women by men is not unusual.
This week, as most higher education institutions start with the academic programmes, millions of students will be spending the next few months on campuses, where it is reported in a study by Higher Health that 62% of them feel unsafe and feel that they are at high risk of gender-based violence (GBV).
Higher Health is a national agency charged with improving the health and well-being of the two million students who attend 26 universities, 50 Technical and Vocational Education and Training colleges (TVET), and nine Community Education and Training Colleges.
This picture becomes even grimmer, considering that the Medical Research Council indicates that 10% of all reported rape cases come from the higher education sector.
Furthermore, while GBV disproportionately affects women, the queer community is often on the receiving end of ill-treatment by authorities and personnel meant to offer support and assistance to victims.
It cannot be right that year in and year out speeches are made, and tributes are paid at the funerals of young women who died at the hands of men – yet, these numbers are not abating.
The alarming rate at which men continue to ill-treat women and mete out violence against them requires more than shock and outrage – it requires action.
Toxic masculinity and misogyny contribute greatly to violence in society. Thus, we have to root them out daily through advocacy and awareness programmes.
Importantly, as raised by Manamela, it is deeply worrying that in South Africa we struggle to sustain our outrage against the brutality women are subjected to because we seemingly tend to treat these barbaric incidents as isolated events. We move on as if the lives of women don’t matter. Considering that GBV and femicide are a pandemic in our country, perhaps part of the solution is a rethink on how, as citizens, we act and demand action and accountability only when we are most affected.
In cases where we are aware of incidents of abuse and violence against women, we all have a moral duty and responsibility to consistently report whenever we witness them. Even when the people affected believe we must mind our own business and leave them alone.
When we mind our business and ignore abuse and violence when we know it happens, unfortunately we will only be good at outrage after women are dead, which solves nothing.
Looking away is not only immoral, it perpetuates lawlessness. The majority of people who mete out violence on fellow human beings in South Africa are emboldened daily by the lack of consequences for their actions.
Let us not cower because our experience with the criminal justice system is such that it doesn’t take cases seriously, nor does it act according to its mandate. We have to demand accountability from the police and that the entire criminal justice system is truly going to eradicate GBV and femicide. Swift action by the criminal justice system must be the norm, and not the exception.
We cannot afford to slumber again and again, believing that nothing is happening in between the brutal killing of women by men. Let us rise against GBV irrespective of who is affected.
Let us not wait for it to hit closer to home before we rise.
* Tshenkeng is the founder and CEO of Decode Communications, a Pan-African Reputation Management agency
** The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of IOL or Independent Media.
Pretoria News