Durban - “I was raped and you were born.”
These words once pierced through Scelo Mncube’s heart like a sharp object, but now they motivate him to get more rape babies to talk about how their mothers were violated and they were conceived.
Mncube, 25, was born in Ntuzuma, KwaZulu-Natal, in 1992. His mother died in 2006 and he found a letter addressed to him among her belongings two years later.
“The letter nearly killed me I want to inspire the nation by sharing my story. There could be someone out there who may know the truth about my mom being raped.
“I do not know who my father is. I really hope that one day, someone will come to me with answers,” said Mncube. He said he and his two sisters had been brought up by their mom and they rented a house in the township.
“After my mom died, we could not afford to pay the rent and we were kicked out. My sisters were taken away by their fathers and I was left to fend for myself. I moved in with my aunt in uMlazi but I found myself stranded again.
“I was a street kid and would miss school for weeks on end," Mncube said. He said when he was in Grade 11, his principal raised issues about his attendance in school and demanded that he should show him something to prove that he's an orphan and was a street kid.
“I went to my aunt and she gave me a briefcase with my mother's documents. A brown envelope fell and I picked it up. It was written “I was raped and you were born” in bold.
“It was a painful moment. I cried there is this one question that I used to ask my mom and it was ‘Mom, who is my father?’ and she would say my father is Jesus,” Mncube said.
He said in the letter, his mother told him how she tried to abort him but failed, hence he was born prematurely at eight months. “I was shocked and in pain. When I think of my mother, I break down. I think about what she went through. I am grateful that she did not abort me. People who are products of rape should not be ashamed.
“My mom is my mom, regardless of what she went through.”