Children bear brunt of mean, jilted lovers

Murder and smut campaigns used in revenge

Another South African child has become the victim of a scorned woman.

This time a well orchestrated smear campaign against a 15-year-old Durban schoolgirl has led to strange men propositioning her for sex via WhatsApp and arriving at her home to inquire about her “services”.

Earlier this month Bongiwe Maliwa‚ 28‚ was arrested for allegedly murdering 10-yearold Njabulo Mankayi‚ the son of her ex-lover, and his friend, Luyanda Msomi‚ in Durban.

In the latest incident allegedly involving a spurned woman‚ photographs of the 15year-old were lifted from her Instagram account and used on posters titled, “I am willing to give” and “Come on over”.

The posters‚ which featured her cellphone and landline numbers and home address‚ were put up at service stations and shops in the area.

In her affidavit submitted to police‚ the girl’s mother states she suspects that her boyfriend’s estranged wife was behind the smear campaign. The mother said her family had been bombarded with messages and prank phone calls since she started dating the man last year. Their harassment heightened when the man moved in with the family.

“The matter worsened when the school principal contacted me, stating a letter was sent to the school encouraging the school to remove my daughter.

“Posters of her were also found outside the school premises as well as the tuck shops and neighbouring schools in that area. A week later her dad received a letter and photographs at his residence stat ing that they will be distributing posters of her in the neighbourhood‚” she said.

Less than two weeks ago a resident contacted the mother to inform her that posters had been scattered on his street.

“En route we began finding posters scattered approximately 100m from my residence. We then proceeded on the neighbouring roads and picked up numerous posters scattered along the roadside‚” she said.

The woman has sent her three daughters to live with their father while police investigate a case of crimen injuria.

KwaZulu-Natal police spokesperson Colonel Thembeka Mbhele confirmed that a case of crimen injuria was opened at the Phoenix police station after “a 15-year-old girl was allegedly insulted by unknown people”.

Media Monitoring Africa director William Bird said the matter was “simply awful”.

“To be honest, it is difficult to protect [people] against this kind of thing as people who want to be mean will be,” he said.

“While there are many steps, and www.hashplay.co.za lists many‚ I don’t think they would necessarily be able to help this young girl.”–

‘ ‘ To be honest, it is difficult to protect against this kind of thing