Safety is the best gift we can give women

Alove. S WE head towards Mother’s Day tomor- row, we must spare a thought for another side of the lives of women in South Africa – the disturbingly high rate of women who die at the hands of their intimate partners. This week South Africans were horrified by the murder of Karabo Mokoena whose charred body was found in an open field in Joburg. Her boyfriend has been arrested. Former ANC Youth League leader Patrick Wisani was this week sentenced to 20 years for the murder of his girlfriend, Nosipho Mandleleni, whom he sjamboked to death in 2015. Olympian superstar Oscar Pistorius killing his model girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, on Valentine’s Day in 2013 made international headlines. The case relating to businessman Christopher Panayiotou for allegedly masterminding his wife’s killing is ongoing. The body of Fatima Choonara, 28, was found in her Polokwane home after what was believed to be a robbery. Her husband was later arrested for her murder. Last year, real estate executive Jason Rohde was arrested for allegedly murdering his wife, Susan, at a luxury Stellenbosch hotel. He was released on bail of more than R1 million. These are just a few of the cases that we know about because they made headlines. Many other cases go unreported. The sad and inescapable conclusion is that even at home many South African women are not safe. Earlier this year a Department of Justice pro- gramme for dialogue on intimate femicide, which could change the way cases of violence against women are reported and filed, heard that there were nearly 190 000 new applications for protection orders last year. As we shop for Mother’s Day, let us remember that one of the best gifts any mother or woman can have is to feel safe and protected around those they