One year since Uyinene died
● In Cape Town, flowers and ribbons have appeared outside the Clareinch Post Office where Uyinene Mrwetyana was raped and murdered, as the community prepares to mark the first anniversary of her death tomorrow.
For her mother Noma, the anniversary of the death of her daughter — 19 years old and a student at the University of Cape Town at the time — is just the latest painful reminder of her loss.
“The past 12 months since the passing of Uyi have not been easy for us as a family,” she said. “The period has been characterised by countless sleepless nights … a mixed bag of emotions ranging from hurt and sadness to anger and frustration.
“However, we have realised that this is a lifetime experience we can never take away. By the grace of God and the support we received from people from all walks of life, there has been a sense of comfort.”
Noma said continuing cases of genderbased violence, in spite of the outpouring of anger that followed her daughter’s murder by Post Office clerk Luyanda Botha, were disheartening.
“It seems we are fighting a losing battle,” she said. “When shall enough be enough? It seems like there is no concerted effort from government to curb this crime.”
Professor Shanaaz Mathews, a femicide expert in the health sciences faculty at UCT and director of the Children’s Institute, said progress has been made since Mrwetyana’s murder — but it has been slow.
Results from a femicide study by the South African Medical Research Council suggest cases over a ten-year period are not declining.
A R1.6bn “emergency response plan” adopted by the government after Mrwetyana’s highly publicised murder was “meant to address both prevention and response to gender-based violence [GBV], but tracking how this money was spent has been very difficult,” said Mathews.
In April, President Cyril Ramaphosa signed off on a national strategic plan on GBV, but, said Mathews, “unless the plan is backed by resources and implementation of the plan is monitored by civil society, it will not have the desired effect”.
For Leilani Kuter, who has raised more than R250,000 to support and empower rape survivors, the issue is particularly personal.
Kuter, 46, was raped, strangled and left for dead when she was 18 and living at a church youth centre in Pretoria.
“When the police finally arrived they explained it was the sixth rape case reported in the area in just one week,” she said.
“The police were very nonchalant about the rape. Speaking to me, it was as if they were asking me how I liked my eggs done.”
Last year, Kuter walked 730km to raise R250,000 for rape survivors. On September 1, the anniversary of her attack, she plans to begin a 450km, 16-day walk to raise more money.
“Every step of my 2020 challenge will be taken in defiance of systemic violence against women, men and children, in celebration of our collective survival spirit. I hope the public will get behind me,” she said.