We’re losing fight against GBV
Where will Cyril find the vaccine for this pandemic?
Ihave bad news for President Cyril Ramaphosa. The battle against what he termed the second pandemic doesn’t look like it’ll be won.
This, of course is the pandemic of gender-based violence (GBV). Last week, I had the misfortune to witness this scourge at its worst.
On a Saturday morning, I witnessed people gathered to watch a couple engaged in world wrestling championship. In fact, it was a one-sided affair wherein the husband was battering his wife while the crowd stood by filming and taking pictures.
The man was pummelling his wife with fists on her body and face, and even kneed her in the groin.
The visibly inebriated guy was unstoppable and enraged, calling her names like isfebe (a whore).
I tried to intervene and was caught in the crossfire. As she grabbed me for support, the guy didn’t loosen his grip and continued to land heavy blows on her.
For my efforts, I was rewarded with my foot being stomped on and the referee in me left the ring with a leg in pain.
I limped away and called the police, who came hours after the mismatched bout was over. One or two other guys who tried to intervene gave up when they could not restrain the raging bull.
At some stage, he tore the clothes off her body while the phone cameras clicked away.
The lady finally managed to run away and was rescued and hidden away as the matador bayed for more blood.
I was truly mollified. In the aftermath, I enquired about what could have caused the fight and why others chose to ogle the spectacle instead of stopping the one-sided battle.
One witness told me that the couple was married and the wife, originally from Lesotho, had a reputation for being “loose”. She was unemployed and only gave the husband conjugal rights around payday, I was told.
At some stage, she hired people to kill her husband so she could replace him at his mining workplace, ran the rumour mill.
The hitmen did not follow through with the job but the couple continued to stay together. These claims were related to me in unsympathetic tones while my eyes grew bigger and bigger.
The last I heard about the fight was the woman did receive medical treatment in hospital. A detective friend told me that evening that what I witnessed happened beke le beke (weekly), and the police were simply tired of being called to intervene.
I was stupefied and helpless. My foot was swollen and in pain the next day, but I can’t imagine what that poor woman felt like after being hit by the runaway train. I don’t know where Ramaphosa will find the vaccine for GBV, but the signs are not good.