Femicide – four women are killed in the country daily by their husbands or boyfriends:
Statistics reveal four SA women killed by partners every day
THE recent arrest of murdered Port Elizabeth teacher Jayde Panayiotou’s husband has thrust the country’s femicide statistics into the spotlight and once again highlighted the incidence of domestic violence in South Africa.
Female homicide is the most extreme form of domestic violence and, according to a 2009 Medical Research Council study on intimate femicide in South Africa, on average four women are killed in the country daily by their husbands or boyfriends.
Panayiotou’s husband, Christopher, 28, was arrested last Wednesday night for allegedly masterminding her abduction and subsequent murder. He was arrested along with Luthando Siyoli, 31, and Sizwezakhe Vumazonke, 30, who he allegedly hired to do the job.
The Panayiotou case is the latest high-profile femicide case relating to Port Elizabeth, following the slaying of model Reeva Steenkamp; Debbie Lewis, the wife of a local restaurateur; and Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University student Tshepiso Sithole.
The 2009 study shows that almost 63% of the overall interpersonal violence is committed against women, with more women killed by their current or former -intimate male partner.
In the study, more than half of murdered women were killed by their intimate partners, while 43% were non-intimate femicides.
Of those intimate femicides, 37.4% of the suspects were convicted.
Anton Vywer, whose sister Debbie was murdered by her husband Nathan two years ago, said he could not help but feel sorry for the Inggs and Panayiotou families.
“It is a terrible violation of trust, not just between the husband and wife. There are just so many people affected as that person [perpetrator] could be a dad or uncle and how do you explain to a child that the person is capable of such a deed?” he said.
“There is just so much devastation in the aftermath, es- pecially when a family member is the perpetrator. It just makes it so much more difficult and that is not to say that having a loved one killed by a stranger is less painful.”
Vywer said while there were some signs of trouble between Debbie and Nathan, they never thought it would go as far as murder.
“He had a massive drinking and gambling problem, which caused some friction between them, but there were never any physical beatings. It never even crossed my mind that he would end up taking her life.”
Nathan was charged with premeditated murder in September 2013 and committed suicide at the Pierre’s Bistro restaurant he owned at the Bridge, Greenacres, three months later.
Pretoria teacher Mutshutshu Muvhango was sentenced to an effective 15 years in jail for Sithole’s murder last year – three years after her death.
For her father, Freddy Sithole, although justice was served when Muvhango was sentenced, it did not make it easier to stare longingly into her room in the family’s Pretoria home that she would probably be occupying.
“She would have been done with her studies at NMMU and probably back home, we don’t know. Her room is now occupied by my youngest daughter, but each time we see it we can’t help but wonder about what could have been,” he said.
Reeva Steenkamp’s murder made national headlines after she was shot dead by her boyfriend, paralympian Oscar Pistorious, on Valentine’s Day in 2013.
Women’s rights activist Lisa Vetten said femicide had always been a problem in South Africa, but it “unfortunately took high-profile cases to highlight it”.
Have your say Text your opinion to 32972. R1 per SMS. Errors billed.