Daily Dispatch

‘Lion mama’ case reflects SA shame

THE news of the acquittal of a woman, dubbed “Lion Mama” by the media, has been met with a sense of relief by society at large.

She had been charged with the murder of a man she allegedly found raping her daughter. The woman stabbed the man to death and also wounded two other men she had found inside an abandoned house where she believed her daughter was being gang-raped.

The latter two suspects have since been charged with rape.

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) told the Lady Frere Magistrate’s Court that the director of public prosecutions had declined to prosecute the case. The reasons were not given. However it would be interesting to hear the legal reasons for the NPA decision not to prosecute.

But the general feeling within society is that the woman did what any reasonable parent would have done – especially one acting on impulse.

It is unimaginable what any parent would do in such a situation.

While we do not condone violence, especially in a country already torn to shreds by violence, the response from society in general is understandable.

Not only is South Africa the rape capital of the world but also we have high incidences of physical violence towards women and children. These are the most vulnerable sectors of our broken society.

One just had to look at the rape statistics to realise that we are a country gatvol with crime. We have had enough.

The support for the “Lion Mama” is actually a painful concession by our communities that we cannot rely on the police to protect our women and children.

And no amount of tough-talking by the boisterous Police Minister Fikile Mbalula will change that. Words are cheap.

We want to see action. Let his rhetoric translate to the reduction of our stubbornly high crime statistics. Throwing insults at criminals is just that, empty rhetoric.

According to the latest police statistics, 116 rapes happen in South Africa every day. The brave victims who report their cases also have to endure inept police who in most cases end up bungling the investigation.

Last year a study – conducted by the Sonke Gender Justice project in collaboration with Wits University – found that of the 500 cases reported at the Diepsloot police station, in one of Johannesburg’s most densely populated areas, since 2013 only one led to a conviction.

As horrifying as these statistics are, there are many other cases that go unreported. Other victims are too afraid to report their cases for fear of stigma or further trauma.

We are still a cruel society that often blames women for their violation. The victims are made to feel guilty for their own rape.

We still have police who tell victims of abuse to go home and resolve issues with their abusive partners.

As society we are complicit in the abuse for as long as there are still people who turn a blind eye when a neighbour or a friend abuses their partner or child.

We should hang our heads in shame.