KwaZulu-Natal Social Development MEC Nonhlanhla Khoza issued a call for all communities to rally together and fight the scourge of gender-based violence perpetrated against women, especially vulnerable rural women. This after the alleged rape of a 92-year-old grandmother and her 11-year-old granddaughter in Jozini, northern KZN. File Picture: Bongiwe Mchunu
Durban — The Ayanda Msweli Foundation said that it was aggrieved by the alleged rape of a 92-year-old grandmother and her 11-year-old granddaughter in Jozini, northern KwaZulu-Natal.
“We are observing a shift in the conduct of rape in our country. Rapists are developing arrogance and confidence in their conduct of rape, and we have to ask ourselves why. There is a new rape that we need to dissect and thoroughly comprehend for the purpose of ensuring that our interventions address all factors contributing to the growing arrogance and confidence of rapists.”
This after KZN Social Development MEC Nonhlanhla Khoza had issued a call for all communities to rally together and fight the scourge of gender-based violence (GBV) perpetrated against women, especially vulnerable rural women.
It is alleged that the assailant(s) stormed into the family homestead at night, threatened them and allegedly raped the victims.
Ayanda Msweli Foundation spokesperson Sphume Mathe said her organisation was passionately committed to strengthening the war against sexual violence.
Mathe said the question that needed to be asked was what relevant strategies had been presented to the public in the fight against GBV.
She added that the foundation’s strategy included rooting out violence by mitigating every factor that contributed to the vulnerability of the victims being violated by perpetrators.
“A case in point is the Nongoma case, where a 68-year-old old woman living with physical disability was brutally raped by a 28-year-old man. She lives in a one-room house with no lock, which is what made it easier for the perpetrator to do as he pleased with her.
“We began a campaign to build her a dignified home that would protect and preserve her dignity, and erase the factor of vulnerability to housebreaking or rape.
“We are currently going around KZN and Gauteng collecting R10 donations from ordinary South Africans to assist in finishing off the house. Our intention is to compel ordinary South Africans to be involved in practical solutions to fighting GBV. This is a challenge to all other institutions to report on their active practical solutions in the war against GBV, to steer away from the one-time shock of any case that makes us issue statements, condolences and hashtags at that moment. But after this case, and after the next case, what ongoing activities are being carried out?” Mathe stressed.
MEC Khoza expressed her deepest sympathies and solidarity with the victims and their families during this difficult time.
“We are extremely shocked by the persistent abuse of older persons and children in our communities. It is a shame that we have a lot of people with decayed morality. We have people who are unable to recognise the good from the bad and continue to violate their rights,” she said.
Khoza said her department stood ready to offer comprehensive support and assistance to the victims, ensuring they received the necessary medical care, psycho-social support and legal aid to aid in their recovery and the pursuit of justice.
She said there was an urgent need for law enforcement agencies to conduct thorough and quick investigationa to identify and apprehend perpetrator(s) responsible for this reprehensible crime.
“We implore the criminal justice system to treat this matter with utmost seriousness and diligence, ensuring that those responsible are held accountable to the fullest extent of the law. We also call upon communities, civil society organisations and individuals to stand together in solidarity against all forms of gender-based violence, particularly crimes as abhorrent as rape. We must work collectively to create safe environments that protect the most vulnerable members of our society and prevent such heinous acts from occurring,” she said.
She added that a team of social workers was dispatched to assist victims with counselling.
KZN SAPS spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda said no such case had been recorded with SAPS.
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