Woman lives in fear after boiling water attack, tells her story to MEC

For seven months an Eastern Cape woman has lived in fear, constantly looking over her shoulder, since she survived a gruesome attack, allegedly at the hands of her ex-boyfriend in December 2019.

The man allegedly poured boiling water over her and her year-old child.

Both survived.

The woman, who is in a place of safety in East London, cannot be named to protect her. Her alleged attacker is in jail, awaiting finalisation of the case.

Reliving her ordeal on Thursday, the woman, whose voice sometimes trembled as she fought back tears, told the Dispatch she fled her home in fear for her life.

She is one of scores of women who have sought shelter through the Masimanyane Women’s Centre in East London.

“I went to the shelter because I did not feel safe where I lived with my partner after he poured boiling water over me and my baby.

“After I left hospital I had nowhere to go because he sent me messages he was not done with me.”

She shared her story after sport, recreation, arts and culture MEC Fezeka Nkomonye, who chairs the Eastern Cape’s gender machinery programme, visited places of safety in East London.

Though the burn wounds have scarred the woman’s skin, she also has internal scars.

“I could not even walk. I’ve had an operation and I could not use my hands.

“I do not want to go live in that area because even though he is now in jail, anything can still happen to me.

“I have lost my self-esteem. There are clothes I can no longer wear. I can’t do my own my laundry properly any more because of the burn injuries on my hands.

“I had to take my children back to live and study with my aunt in the rural areas,” she said, visibly upset.

Nkomonye’s visit took place as gender-based violence and femicide in SA continued unabated — a situation that has been described as a crisis by activists and President Cyril Ramaphosa.

To mark Women’s Month, Nkomonye said the provincial government would embark on a campaign to educate children, especially young boys, on how to treat women.

Nkomonye said the government had teamed up with women support groups through the gender machinery programme.

“Part of my responsibility is to give all those structures a sense of direction and pull them together so that whatever we are doing in the fight against GBV is done in a collaborative effort so that we can make a massive impact.

“For the longest time women have been on their own in this fight. We need to target a behavioural change in boy children and men,” she said.

In May, the provincial social development department set aside R38.9m to fight GBV and femicide this financial year.

Masimanyane’s Dr Lesley-Ann Foster said the lockdown had made women more vulnerable.

“Job losses were significant, they led to issues around food insecurity and inability to provide basic services.

“Healthcare became a problem because women can’t just access any clinic,” she said.