Femicide just doesn’t stop
Hermanus woman bludgeoned to death
THE bloodletting against the country’s women shows no sign of abating, as yet another brutal slaying shocks the nation. This time a Hermanus resident was bludgeoned to death with a hammer, allegedly by her partner, bringing to four the number of women killed just in the Western Cape in the last month.
Police spokesperson Wesley Twigg said they were investigating the death of 24-year-old Sinathi Magqazana who was killed at the weekend, allegedly by her boyfriend in Marikana, Zwelihle, near Hermanus.
Twigg said a suspect aged 24 was arrested in connection with the latest killing.
On September 5, the dismembered and charred remains of Siphokazi Booi, 27, were discovered dumped at a train station in Mbekweni, Paarl. She was allegedly killed by her boyfriend, Sithobele Qebe, 30, the previous day.
On August 21, Pheliswa Sawutana, 32, was strangled to death with shoelaces in the Kosovo informal settlement in Samora Machel, Philippi. Her killing came when South Africans were reeling from the killing of the University of Fort Hare student Nosicelo Mtebeni, 23, in East London.
Siphokazi Bokili, 34, was killed and dumped in a puddle of water, allegedly by a man known to her on August 8 at Brown’s Farm, Philippi. Her body had been mutilated and her throat slit. In Hermanus, the distraught mother of Magqazana, Nozuko Mbovane, 47, said all she wanted was justice for her daughter.
Mbovane said she was told that her daughter was hit on the head with a hammer, allegedly by her boyfriend, until she died.
He then tried to put her body in a black bag before leaving the house.
Residents protested at the Hermanus Magistrate's Court on Monday, after the suspect handed himself over to the police.
Her neighbour, Anitha April, alleged that Mbovane's boyfriend had been beating her.
“I tried to convince her to open a case, but she failed to do so because she was afraid of him.”
April said that after the incident, the community had demolished his shack.
Zwelihle ward councillor Lindile Ntsabo said the community should stand together in fighting the scourge of gender-based violence, and the informal settlement committees should keep record of people who staying in their areas.
Masizole Mnqasela, DA constituency head for Overstrand, which includes Hermanus, said they were saddened and shocked by the murder, which happened so soon after Women’s Month.
Mnqasela said he would engage the senior prosecutor of the court to handle the case with the urgency it deserves. Community Safety MEC Albert Fritz said the incident has been “really upsetting”.
“Far too many women and children have died gruesome deaths,” he said. He said his department would do all it could to assist the police to ensure the perpetrator “of this heinous act faces the full might of the law. We will never accept this. It is not who we are as a society”, said Fritz.
Anyone with information that could assist in the investigation is urged to call the Crime Stop number 0860010111 or contact the police through the MySAPSApp.