Government employees took to the streets of Port Shepstone last week to show their support for 16 days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence (GBV) and in protest at the wave of femicide which has swept the country.

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Hundreds of marchers, led by representatives from Ugu District Municipality and Ray Nkonyeni Municipality urged men to walk in women’s shoes and feel their pain.
During the march, candles were lit and a moment of silence observed in honour of all women who had died as a result of gender-based violence, both on the South Coast and throughout the country.

The Herald has previously reported on a number of shocking cases of women who had died at the hands of their partners, and has published several opinion pieces under the hashtags #AmINext and # NotInMyName.
In August this year, mother of three Babongile Nzama (38) was killed, allegedly by her former lover (37) just four days before Women’s Day, reportedly because he did not want to accept that their relationship had ended.

She had also been raped, bludgeoned on the head with a hammer and stabbed in the torso 21 times.
In September, mother of one, Thandeka Madlala (22) was found buried in a shallow grave in Masinenge.
It is believed she had been raped, stabbed and her throat slit before she was killed by Gcinikhaya Nodipha (25). Nodipha was later sentenced by the Pietermaritzburg High Court to 20 years in jail for her murder.
In November, the murder of a mother of five at the Mafu homestead in Bhomela left the entire community shocked and horrified.

Xolile Mkhize (35) was bludgeoned to death with a hammer, allegedly by her husband and the father of her children, the youngest of whom is just two years old.
Ray Nkonyeni Municipality mayor Cynthia Mqwebu said this was a sign that something was wrong with society.
“How many more women are dying daily at the hands of perpetrators that the media is not reporting on?

When will men put an end to this scourge? We are saying we need harsher sentences imposed on all those who are guilty of such crimes,” she said.
A pledge was signed by government leaders and police officials, committing themselves to align with public service policies offering recourse for those subjected to sexual harassment in the workplace, victimisation and unsafe working conditions.
Ugu District Municipality mayor Sizwe Ngcobo said the march was part of government’s commitment to providing a safe working environment.

“Government employees are not isolated from what is happening in our society. We are members of society before we are government employees,” he said.
He added that more effort needed to be made to fight the scourge of GBV.

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