Comet women add their voices to ending gender-based violence

A group of Comet Village women, fed up with gender-based violence and being regularly targeted by violent criminals in their homes, took to the streets to vent their frustration on Wednesday morning.

The protesting crowd blockaded a section of Rondebult Road in Comet, complaining that they have, for years, been targeted by criminals almost every week, and that authorities have left them to suffer at the mercy of unscrupulous men.

With some half-naked and wielding placards reading, “Are we not your mothers? Are they not your children?”, “Is it a sin to be a woman?” and “Dear men, we are asking for forgiveness?”, the residents said they felt failed by the government.

According to one of the women, Thuli sithole, who was part of the organising team, they resorted to organising a protest against the ongoing violence and abuse directed at women and children in the area after years of trying to get government intervention to stop the violence.

She told the Advertiser that they have been trying to get authorities, including the metro, to address the scourge of crime in the community, but nothing tangible has happened. Instead, the problem has just been increasing, forcing families to deal with tragic events almost every week.

“We are tired of this. Yesterday morning (June 23) a guy was shot and injured when a group of men arrived and raped his wife, before stealing their belongings from the house. Here, women, including children, are sexually abused on a regular basis. In September last year, we approached the metro and told authorities that our community is under siege from gangs of criminals who rape, rob and batter women, but they (the authorities) seem to not care.

“We want government to come here and act, if they can go door-to-door to ask for our votes when it’s election time, then they can do the same now when we are being attacked as women. Now we want the results of our votes,” said Sithole.

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Another resident who identified herself as Minenhle said the raping and battering of women in the area had become a norm.

“As young women here we do not feel safe. We are not safe even in our own homes, let alone in public spaces. We want our government to come up with a plan to protect us,” she said.

Residents requested that the police and justice system do a better job because as far as they understand in some cases, perpetrators get arrested then get released the following day and let back into the community to again victimise women.

It’s time for men to stand up and protect women

Although the protest was dominated by women, a few men also arrived on the scene and shared their concerns about the existing state of affairs in the area, saying men need to play their role in society.

Speaking on behalf of the men in the community, Chris Ngcongco said as men in the area they are standing in solidarity with women against gender-based violence to say ‘not in my name’.

“There is a lot of gender-based violence here and it is not all the men that are raping women. Our sisters, our mothers, our wives and our daughters are being raped in the community without the intervention of the police.  Police assistance is almost non-existent in this area,” Ngcongco said.

“Personally, I have been calling on our local government to offer a tangible solution to address the ongoing violence against women in my community. It’s now over a year since municipal officials told us that they were trying to come up with a strategic plan to fight against gender-based violence and other social ills here, but nothing has happened. I’m saying, it is our duty as men to protect the women in our community.

The police are just a stone’s throw away, but whenever they are called they arrive too late. There was a woman who was removed from her property at midnight and by the time the police arrived here it was already too late. We are saying the police and all the other security forces must help us. There is poor policing in the area, poor street lighting and lots of break-ins.”

After a brief discussion with the metro police, the protesters said they wanted a response from the government within seven business days, adding that if they do not get a response, then they will return to the street and shut Rondebult down.

The protesters then peacefully dispersed at about 9.30am.

The Advertiser is awaiting comment from the metro’s department of community safety.

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