'Thandi'* (28) has God to thank for being alive. She sustained 26 stab wounds, allegedly inflicted by her ex-boyfriend. She is recovering in hospital.
On Sunday, 3 March, at around 00:10, the suspect allegedly broke down the door and entered the house where Thandi was. It is alleged that he started strangling her and thereafter took a knife and stabbed her 26 times all over her body.
This is not the first incident of its kind to happen in the KwaNonqaba area; in 2011, Sibusiso Ntantiso stabbed a pregnant woman and in August 2011, the woman lost her baby. Ntantiso (28) was convicted and sentenced in 2012 to life imprisonment.
In Thandi's case, the KwaNonqaba Detective Service is investigating a case of attempted murder against the perpetrator. The suspect was arrested and appeared in the Mossel Bay Magistrate's Court on Monday where bail was refused. He remains in custody and is awaiting trail.
According to the KwaNonqaba SAPS Communication Officer, Sgt Nomboniso Jika, women are violated on a daily basis and report these incidents, only to withdraw the charges at a later stage. There are incidents which are not reported and women only report them when the situation gets out of hand.
Currently, approximately 80% of the reported monthly incidents where women are the victims, are withdrawn by the victims.
Recently, the SAPS Social Crime Prevention Officer, Cst Funeka Ajah, visited registered survivors to ensure their safety and attendance in court. Surprisingly, all 10 of the victims visited have withdrawn the cases they had opened, stating that they were angry at the time of opening a case.
Sgt Jika warns the victims that it will not be the last time that the perpetrator inflicts pain on them. The survivor may be lucky enough to survive this one incident, however, the trauma is so deep and mostly takes years to heal, if in fact it does heal at all. The trauma caused to the victim often disables her to continue with a normal life.
Domestic violence incidents are taken seriously by the SAPS and members who interfere with the investigation or those who do not take it seriously, are charged with misconduct. This is how seriously it is viewed.
Awareness campaigns, conducted via radio shows, road shows and on television, make mention of important Non-governmental institutions and numbers which are of assistance to the community, especially the survivors. Locally, the SAPS and other relevant stakeholders commit themselves to assisting the survivors.
There are various reasons why women turn a blind eye to domestic violence. Some mention that their partners are breadwinners and they do not want their children to suffer. Some mention that they had provoked their men and state that they submit to the situation and let the partner do whatever, whenever. Domestic Violence knows no race, creed or gender. It happens to all and it depends on each and every individual to submit to it or act on it.
Sgt Jika says the minute another person shouts at or threatens you, take it as a sign; the next time around, he/she might point a finger and the combination of fist, kick and shoot-out might follow.
Take a stand now and say 'Enough is Enough, Genoeg is Genoeg!'
* Name changed to protect the victim.
The Commanding Officer of the Da Gama Zone, Brig Gerhard Jantjies, and the Mossel Bay Executive Mayor, Alderlady Marie Ferreira, with members of the KwaNonqaba SAPS, who have pledged to fight the scurge of violence against women and children. Photo: Sgt Jika
