UNDER SIEGE

South Africa is one of “the most unsafe places in the world to be a woman”, President Cyril Ramaphosa said at an emergency sitting of parliament in September.

Some 2 700 women and 1 000 children were murdered by men in 2018 and at least 100 rapes were reported daily. These statistics are like those of a country at war, the president added. “There’s a dark and heavy shadow across our land. Women and children are under siege.”

These are three of the thousands of murdered women who made headlines in recent months.

UYINENE MRWETYANA In August, the 19-yearold University of Cape Town student was raped and murdered by Luyanda Botha (42) in the Cape Town post office where he worked. Last month Botha was convicted and handed three life sentences.

SINETHEMBA NDLOVU The 22-year-old University of KwaZulu-Natal student was stabbed to death by a man who’d been harassing her and her friends as they left a motorsport event in Msinga. Buhlebodwa Zakahle Mntungwa (20) was arrested a week later and is in custody awaiting trial.

LEIGHANDRE “BABY LEE” JEGELS The 25-year-old boxing and karate champion from East London in the Eastern Cape was shot dead in August by her boyfriend, policeman Bulelani Manyakama (37), who also shot and injured her mother, Rita. As he drove away from the scene he was involved in a head-on collision, which killed two other motorists. He died of his injuries shortly afterwards.

Yet his swift arrest is cold comfort for Precious’ grieving family.

“It doesn’t get any easier,” Mavis says. “We’re just taking each day as it comes.

“We want justice to be served for the merciless killing of our beautiful daughter.”