The Herald contacted the woman on Tuesday and she shared her horrific experience. “We are good business owners, that treat our employees well and in accordance with labour laws. We are actively involved in the Nkowankowa community with many charity projects, including Covid-19 care packages when the pandemic was still in full swing. We even distributed Easter eggs to children in the community this year,” says the woman.

On Thursday, August 4, she was verbally assaulted by a group of men involved in a protest aimed at certain factories and businesses that operate in Nkowankowa. In the video, it can be seen how a man calls a woman a “white girl” and another man calls her “just a stupid girl” before one of the two men then proceed to slap the phone (on which she was recording the incident) out of her hands. The incident allegedly occurred in front of police officers who did not react.

The men proceeded to threaten her and her family. The woman and her children left the Tzaneen area for their safety with her husband. “As business owners, we feel like our hands are tied. We made it through the Covid-19 period and are trying to survive. Now we have to take legal steps in order to keep our doors open,” she said. The aggression, intimidation, and threats of violence experienced by the woman stem from protest action taken by a group in Nkowankowa called ‘Dan/Nkowankowa Concerned Group’ that is described as ‘concerned groups’ that represent ‘concerns about the factories operating in Nkowankowa industrial and LCP’.

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According to a section 4 meeting memorandum in the Herald’s possession, the concerned group demands that all factories in Nkowankowa and LCP hire 60% of employees from Nkowankowa, Dan, and Mokgoloboto villages and 30% of their employees from neighbouring villages, among other things. A march of 200 people was scheduled from August 2 to 5 and specifically targets ten different companies in the area.

Some of the business owners were allegedly told by police officers to open a case of intimidation at the station. They did not succeed in opening a case at Ritavi Police Station and had to drive to Tzaneen Police Station in an attempt to open a case. Ritavi police media liaison, Sgt Gavaza Mawila, says that they were not aware of the incident and therefore would not know why no case was opened. Mulawu Mathye, secretary of the concerned group says that they do not support violence, racism, or the abuse of women.

“I wasn’t happy when I saw that video. I said that we cannot do this and we need to negotiate in good faith and not abuse women.” He added that the group has another meeting scheduled with the businesses involved for tomorrow (Wednesday, 10 August) and that there are tentative plans to continue the protest on Monday, August 15. He reiterated that the group does not subscribe to such vulgarity or behaviour and said that the men involved were not members of the group.

The Herald will follow up on the protest and these activities in Nkowankowa as it unfolds. Watch the video on our website, www.letabaherald.co.za.