Join The Rusty Lady in the fight against violence
This Women’s Day, The Rusty Lady Deli Bistro will join forces with Home of Hope in Kensington in its fight against the scourge of violence against women and children.
Owners of The Rusty Lady, Mr Peter Hand and his wife, Charmaine, decided to do something for Women’s Day in memory of Ms Natalie Dube, an employee who was murdered last month.
Ms Dube was found dead by a waitress in a storeroom at the Rusty Lady Deli Bistro in Queen Street, Kensington, on July 9.
A manager at the business was arrested in connection with the incident.
“We want to turn the memory of Ms Dube into something positive. We decided to join forces with Mam’ Khanyi’s Home of Hope because it is a fantastic local charity that helps exploited and abused women and girls. On August 9 we want to add ours and Kensington’s voice to condemning the scourge of violence against women. We encourage people to donate or to bring non-perishable foodstuff, blankets, clothes, toiletries or petrol. Anything that can help the home. We will provide boxes and containers for the donations at The Rusty Lady and will deliver it all to the Home of Hope,” said Mr Hand.
The past month has not been easy for the owners and staff of The Rusty Lady.
“The Rusty Lady is conscious of its place in Kensington that we have established in our first year of being open. We have many regulars and have had a lot of support since the horrific events of July 9.
“The Rusty Lady opened again on July 11 after the police completed their on-site investigations and after the site had been cleaned in detail. I commend the police, who seem to only get criticism, and Crime Scene Clearance for their diligence.
“As expected, we have also had criticism, mostly based on no information whatsoever.
“As for opening too soon, when is the right time and who determines it? We felt that 19 people working for their families, as opposed to sitting at home was the preferable option. Were we right – who knows? What we did was based on our conscience and in discussion with Ms Dube’s family,” said Mr Hand.
He said there have been some rumours spread about the incident and questioned why people are exaggerating if the truth was horrific enough.
He said they always strive to do the right thing and they have done things that he would not wish to advertise but saw no alternative. “We paid for the funeral in Zimbabwe that the family attended. We had various services to cleanse spirits and prayers have been said at The Rusty Lady. We saw no reason to invite anybody apart from those directly concerned,” he said.
“We experienced a drop in business in the first couple of weeks and can say that we, too, were victims. But I am pleased to say that we seem to be bouncing back and The Rusty Lady vibe and ambiance has returned. We thank all our regulars for their support. It has been a difficult time. The staff was obviously disturbed but we have had a trauma counsellor working with us to ensure their welfare and business picking up will help them and their families as well,” said Mr Hand.
He hopes the community supports their efforts. “Let us try to do some good to counteract evil,” he said.
The Home of Hope, founded by Ms Khanyisile Motsa, caters for children and young women who were abandoned, abused, neglected and are living with HIV.
