The final resting place of Anene Booysen
There is something deeply troubling about the way we speak about violence against women.
Last week, our affable minister of police implied that it was unacceptable for men to kill light-skinned women, particularly beautiful women. At an official event in Soshanguve, Fikile Mbalula addressed the issue of the murder of Karabo Mokoena, noting that the suspect had allegedly killed “such a beautiful girl, [a] yellowbone”.
His use of the term “yellowbone” is bad enough. But then he appears oblivious to the real problem. It’s not that she was beautiful. It’s not that she was light-skinned. The problem is that a woman was murdered, in the same way that thousands of others are being murdered.
This week, we report on the gruesome murder of Nombuyiselo Nombewu in Klerksdorp; her alleged murderer was out on bail on rape charges. It is often the criminal justice system that fails dismally.
About 287 000 cases of civil hearings under the Domestic Violence Act were registered with the courts between April 1 and December 31 last year, said Deputy Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development John Jeffery.
“Of these cases, nearly 189 000 were new applications for protection orders,” he said. Jeffery was speaking at a ministerial dialogue about intimate femicide in South Africa.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines it as the killing of a woman by an intimate partner. Several studies, including one by the WHO, have confirmed that South Africa has the highest rate of femicide in the world.
The murder and abuse of women by men they know has become routine. The current discourse on femicide is deeply troubling. The reality is too raw and refuge too scarce.
It is often police who fail to assist abused women. Even when assault charges are laid, even when evidence is available, even when restraining orders are in place, the police, Mbalula’s charges, still fail to protect abused women. They could do better by believing women when they say they are in danger.