A small North-West town has been shaken by a spate =20 of seemingly senseless suicides. Molefe Matlou and =20 Thipapedi Rampou investigate=20
‘Please don’t blame anyone for my death,” wrote 21-=20 year-old Rebecca Banda just before she hanged herself. =20 “God gave me the strength to kill myself.”=20
Banda’s death last month was the latest in a spate of =20 suicides among young people which has tormented the =20 quiet little village of Lebotlwane in North-West =20
Her four-page suicide note is tinged with bitterness as =20 she requests them not to follow the tradition of =20 slaughtering a cow: “Those of you who like meat will be =20 disappointed for there will be no meat at my funeral.” =20
At the end of the note is a paragraph written in red =20 ink for her mother: “Mama, you are the person who =20 should be happy because you can now have plans on how =20 to spend your money. I’ll no longer bother you with =20 money for transport, lunch and clothes.” =20
Three months ago, four youths in the village took their =20 own lives, bringing to seven the total number of =20 suicides in six months, a frightening total for a =20 community of some 10 000 people, and more so when the =20 victims were aged between 18 and 26. Had two other =20 youngsters been successful in their suicide attempts, =20 the toll could have risen to nine.=20
Another note that Banda wrote to her grandmother, Nkoko =20 Banda, asking her “to quickly come and see”, did not =20 prepare the elderly woman for the sight of her =20 granddaughter hanging from the low roof. She described =20 her emotions as motlholo wa metlholo (a sight beyond =20 belief). =20
Nkoko blames young people for losing hope about their =20 future and for lacking vision. “We grew up with many =20 hardships and we never lost hope; many people had =20 problems but life changes and becomes better sometime,” =20 she laments =20
Her uncle, Sello Banda, adds: “My niece was a very =20 peaceful and quiet person. She never complained or =20 cried, even when she was hurt, and sang beautifully in =20 the band that I formed.”=20
Rebecca, a student at Mabopane Technical college, was =20 buried secretly in the early hours of the morning, =20 attended only by her immediate family.=20
Solly Matjila, a 19-year-old who attempted suicide in =20 September, says family problems are too many for him to =20 face. He attempted to take his own life because people =20 in the village are calling him names, and his elder =20 brother does not support him and his younger brother.=20
“It’s true that I used to be a thief and not on good =20 terms with the villagers but I cannot continue to be =20 called names,” he says bitterly. “One day a woman =20 accused me of stealing her chickens and when the =20 thieves were apprehended later on, she never =20
He is also bitter with relatives, whom he blames for =20 the death of his father last year. “My relatives never =20 cared about us when we lived in a small tin shack, but =20 after my father built this house they bewitched him — =20 now he is dead. My elder brother works in Jo’burg and =20 comes home after a long time without any food or =20 clothes for us,” says Solly. He tried to hang himself =20 with a belt after Nakedi Mphahlele, an acquaintance of =20 his, killed himself in the same month. Nakedi also left =20 a suicide note which read: “Le tla ntatela lona thaka e =20 lekanang lenna. (My peers will follow the same =20
Tshidi Moropeng’s (23) attempted suicide in September, =20 following a row with her boyfriend of 10 years and the =20 father of her six-year-old daughter, led to the end of =20 their affair.=20
“I took a rope and went into the bush to take my life, =20 but an old man who saw me in the tree pleaded with me =20 to stop it.=20
“Why should my boyfriend stop me from seeing other =20 guys? He sees other girls as he likes and I want to be =20 as free as him” she says. =20
Moropeng says she intends to shoot her boyfriend, her =20 child and herself if he continues harassing her. It =20 would not be the first such incident: two months before =20 Moropeng tried to hang herself, Salome Mathipa (20) =20 shot herself and her 26-year-old lover, Saul Maropane. =20 Mathipa accused her partner of “seeing a girl” in a =20 nearby village.=20
Lebotlwane’s tribal secretary, Dennis Nawa, admits =20 there are problems like child abuse and lack of =20 recreational facilities which affect the youth of the =20 village “We need to find something to do for our =20 children.” =20
The youth in Lebotlwane and other villages share the =20 problems faced by youth anywhere in South Africa; =20 having completed standard 10 they may find themselves =20 without prospects for a job or further education. =20
But rural villages have their own particular problems =20 as well. Often the need to work in the cities leaves =20 young people parentless for long periods of time. And =20 the conservatism of rural communities leads to a more =20 serious generation gap than the one experienced by city =20 children, further exacerbating the misunderstandings =20 between parents and children.=20
These suicides are a cry for help from a generation of =20 rural youth who have so far scarcely been recognised.=20