Woman abuse survivors ask for tough laws

Brenda Masilela

Women who have survived sex trafficking, rape, abuse and violence recounted the horrors they have experienced yesterday at a gender summit attended by President Cyril Ramaphosa.

They pleaded with him for tougher laws against perpetrators of gender violence.

“Our lives can’t be paroled Mr President. The minimum sentence for sex offenders must be at least 50 years,” said Phindi Ncube.

Ncube said she had been brutally raped by eight men. As a result of the attack, she had five operations on her stomach. Her attackers were released after serving only four years in jail.

In a shocking move, Ncube who was speaking from the podium, unexpectedly raised her dress to show the scars from her ordeal.

Turning to face the president, she said: “I was not born like this, this was a result of the attack. I carry the scars while they walk free.”

More than 1 000 delegates gathered in Irene, Pretoria, to discuss tackling the violence meted against women and girls.

The two-day summit was convened by the president following a series of marches against gender-based violence by formations such as the 100 Man March and #TotalShutdown.

Another survivor identified only as Sarah, who is now confined to a wheelchair, also told delegates she “wasn’t born like this”.

She said: “I was stabbed by my boyfriend while I was sleeping. He also stabbed my child 14 times, left us to die and disappeared.”

Sarah said their attacker was sentenced to 20 years in jail, but he has only served five years. He is due to be released on parole on January 10.

She wrote to the authorities asking for his parole to be reviewed, but did not even get a response.

“We are being ill-treated and we are not getting justice. The sentence was delivered while I was dying in hospital and it was not fair to me. “Today I am struggling. “Mr President, please do something about this because doors are closed to us, we are dying, we are crying, but nothing is done for us,” she said, fighting back tears.

Delegates also demanded the release of Martha Marumo, who has been serving a life sentence since 2005 for killing her abusive husband. – ANA

I was not born like this, this was a result of the attack. I carry the scars while they walk free.