She’s a survivor

Gang raped by six men and left naked on the side of the road in 2010, Cindy Mzobe could have become a statistic, another victim too broken to recover.

Instead the Ndwedwe woman chose another path. She chose to be brave.

Mzobe resigned from her teaching position and founded Natakhon SA Youth organisation, aimed at preventing children from becoming victims of abuse and neglect.

Her organisation offers a homework centre, life skills programmes, scholarships and bursaries, feeding schemes and basic education training programmes.

“We mainly focus on people from the disadvantaged communities, particularly from the rural areas,” said Mzobe.

She said that in rural areas, parents often return home late and the children are vulnerable to abuse. The parents also have little or no

time to help their children with homework.

The homework centre at Gwala’s Farm, open from 3pm to 6pm, combats both these problems by providing a safe haven while the children are helped by professional teachers, who volunteer their time.

Recounting that fateful day, Mzobe said she had been working as a teacher in Emzwilini in Ndwedwe and had taken a taxi to town with a few of her friends.

“There were six guys and a woman in the taxi. The men took hold of my friends and threw them out of the moving taxi. I was the only one left. They drove for few kilometres before pulling over. They took me out and started to beat me up and removed my clothes. Then they raped me on the side of the road. The woman just sat there watching.”

She was left on the side of the road, half naked, cold and alone. She was eventually helped when a group of boys she knew happened to be passing by. They took her to the nearest police station.

Her rapists were caught, convicted and sentenced to 24 years in prison.

Mzobe was left broken and deeply traumatised by her attackers.

But that did not remain her reality.

Today she has turned her life around and she is happily married to Nkosingiphile “Charles” Mzobe, a pastor at the Marashanta International Ministries in Tongaat.

She emphasised that as much as rape victims need sympathy, it must come with support and encouragement to move on with life.

“Too much sympathy can portray rape as life sentence and a victim may never recover. Make sure that he or she understands that life goes on and he or she can still succeed in life, even after rape,” said Mzobe.

Contact Mzobe at 079 140 5375.

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