Anti-GBVF motorcade in Samora Machel highlights recent femicide cases

Uthuleleni Anti-GBV motorcade in Samora Machel. Picture: Supplied

Uthuleleni Anti-GBV motorcade in Samora Machel. Picture: Supplied

Published Mar 2, 2022

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Cape Town - In response to the recent number femicide cases in Western Cape communities, Ilitha Labantu hosted the Uthuleleni Anti-GBV motorcade in Samora Machel to encourage communities to take a stand against the gender-based violence plaguing their communities.

The motorcade comes after the murder of Nomathamsanqa Fani, 32, a mother of three, in Samora Machel. Fani’s body was discovered by residents last Tuesday. Her throat had been slit, allegedly by her jealous boyfriend.

The tied-up body of Charlotte Madolo, 85, with one of her eyes gouged out was discovered in her NY 132 house, Gugulethu, on February 21.

On the weekend of February 13 and 14, three women’s bodies were found in canals in less than 24 hours.

The body of Asiphe Nqoloba, 26, was discovered in a shallow canal behind the Sanitizer informal settlement in Langa, while Nomahlubi Sithole, 53, was also discovered in a canal on the corner of NY44 and NY45.

Both women are believed to have been raped and assaulted before their naked bodies were dumped in the shallow canals. A woman’s body was also discovered in a river near Tulbagh.

Labantu spokesperson Siyabulela Monakali said that in communities riddled with crime and violence there is a high sense of lawlessness. As a result, many victims of abuse and violence are silenced and don’t want to report cases, he said.

“These motorcades are used as a tool for helping to break the silence of abuse in our communities. Our role as an NGO is to continue to work in partnership with various stakeholders, including the police and as well as members of the community.

“We understand that we cannot play this role alone but must rope in different stakeholders to play their role to affect change within our communities and the only way that this will be most effective is if it is continuous,” Monakali said.

Monakali also called on the justice system to play its role in ensuring that those who continued the onslaught on women and girls received the harshest sentences.

Samora Machel CPF chairperson Bongani Maqungwana said the forum valued such educational programmes and called on other stakeholders to partner with them.