Mpumalanga MEC condemns recent killings of women in the province

Mpumalanga Community Safety, Security and Liaison MEC, Gabisile Shabalala recent said that killing of women and children should be condemned in the strongest possible terms, Mpumalanga News reports.

This comes after a number of incidents in which women were killed in different parts of the province.

In one occasion, a woman was shot and killed in eMalahleni by a number of men who later sped off in her vehicle.

In Pienaar outside Mbombela, a Grade 12 learner was also murdered allegedly by a fellow learner and her body was later found in a shallow grave after the suspect confessed.

In Masoyi two children aged six and seven were kidnapped and later found dead in a ditch. All these incidences took place in one month.

Last week, a woman was found dumped at the cemetery in Umjindi with multiple gunshot wounds. It is alleged that she was last seen with her boyfriend.

Early this week at Msholozi, a nine-year-old girl was alleged to have been raped by an unknown person, the suspect is believed to have set the house where the girl stays on fire.

The remains of a person suspected to be the mother of the victim were found after the fire was put down.

MEC Shabalala says women should be protected by all in society against abuse.

She added that police should thoroughly investigate these cases so that the perpetrators are brought to book and accordingly punished.

“These perpetrators should be given lengthy jail sentences in order to send a strong message that we are intolerant of the abuse of women and children,” she says.

She adds that victims and survivors of these tragedies should be given adequate support so that they are not subjected to secondary victimization.

“We should all play a role in ensuring that women and children are safe. Innocent people should not die while we watch and keep quiet. In instances where the murder is committed by a lover, this is a lesson that women must learn to walk away once they notice abusive actions from their partners,” she said.

Meanwhile, MEC Shabalala is expected to visit the family of the child who was sexually abused in Kabokweni the next day at 10:00.

She is sending her heartfelt condolences to the affected families and called for calm in communities. She appealed to members of the public to also assist the police to crack these cases.