”I’m very happy for what has happened in court, I’m proud that I was the first woman to stand up and fight for women’s right to wear what they want to wear. For many years in T-section in Umlazi, women were not allowed to wear pants, but for the first time now, they have the freedom to wear them without having anyone intimidate them.”
Twenty-five-year-old Zandile Mpanza was victorious this week, after the court ordered that a ban on women wearing pants be removed.
Mpanza was attacked by four men in July last year in Umlazi’s T-section in Durban because she was wearing pants. She was stripped naked and forced to walk through the streets.
Her assailants destroyed her home and belongings and she was forced to move out of the township.
The four accused, Thulani Cele, Sibusiso Cele, Sitha Nzuza and Wiseman Mzotho, appeared in the Umlazi Equality Court on Wednesday on civil charges of infringing human rights and dignity.
Mpanza is pleased with the proceedings so far. ”This shows that women can stand up and fight for their own rights and be heard. We have to break the silence — women are being told what to do.”
She urges men to have respect for women. ”A man’s esteem is seen through his respect for women,” she says.
Two of the accused were asked to apologise for trying to enforce a ban on women wearing pants.
Mpanza says: ”I forgive them, although it is not easy considering the trauma that I had to go through. But it’s a victory for us women.”
Magistrate Louis Radyn says the court had been presented with a draft order agreed to by both parties. The order states that the ban on pants in T-section be removed.
The Umlazi police are to convene a community meeting to notify all residents of the court order, it adds.
The Commission on Gender Equality describes the case as a victory for women.
The four accused will reappear in the Umlazi Regional Court on June 9, this time on criminal charges of assault, two counts of malicious damage to property, intimidation and indecent assault.