Cape Town - The SA National Civic Organisation (Sanco) has asked that no bail be given to 24-year-old Khanyile Ramba, who is accused of killing his 24-year-old girlfriend, Sinathi Magqazana, from the Marikana informal settlement in Zwelihle, near Hermanus.
Magqazana was bludgeoned to death with a hammer and her body stuffed in a refuse bag on Saturday. The accused, Ramba, later handed himself to the police.
Magqazana’s death is the latest in four high-profile cases where women in the Western Cape have been killed over the past month.
National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila said Ramba appeared at the Hermanus Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday.
“He is charged with the murder of Magqazana and malicious damage to property,” said Ntabazalila.
The case was back in court on Friday, where it had to be postponed to 1 October 2021 as the accused could not be brought to court.
“All accused couldn't be brought to court as the prison is on lockdown,” Ntabazalila said. “Please note, that the State will add a rape charge against Ramba when he appears in court.”
Sanco national spokesperson Simon Skhosana said that gender-based violence (GBV) and femicide had reached alarming and unacceptable levels that were beyond those of a national pandemic.
Skhosana said that special courts needed to be set up speedily to deal with atrocious GBV and femicide crimes.
He said the unrelenting patriarchal war waged against women and daughters by insecure and abusive men demanded for an extraordinary response to send an unequivocal message that there was no place in society “for heartless monsters who think that women deserved to be treated with disdain and brutality”.
He said Sanco’s view was that the society must revisit how boys were raised and socialised because children raised in abusive environments tend to be worse abusers as they do not know how to love, handle disappointment and rejection.
In a similar case, Sithobele Qebe, 30, made his third appearance in the Paarl Magistrate’s Court today after he was accused of killing his 27-year-old girlfriend, Siphokazi Booi.
The bail application was opposed by the state prosecution who called the investigating officer to testify about the matter and reasons for opposing bail.
Judgement was reserved by the magistrate and the case postponed to 23 September 2021.
Booi’s dismembered and charred remains were discovered where they had been dumped at the train station on September 5, after she was allegedly killed by Qebe on September 4 in Mbekweni, Paarl.
* Additional reporting Theolin Tembo