I knew it! When Minister Liezel de Jager was murdered in Amanzimtoti in 2021, I told anyone who would listen that, in my opinion, it had to be her husband.
(The case in back in the spotlight, with Werner de Jager recently arrested and charged with the murder of Liezel. He is in police custody, awaiting a bail application hearing).
The reason that I jumped to this conclusion is that in South Africa every day three women are murdered by their jealous, depressed, or controlling partner or ex-partner.
Finally, after two years, Werner de Jager was arrested in connection with the murder of his wife Liezel.
Oscar Pistorius will be home soon after serving only 11 years for the murder of Reeva Steenkamp.
There are endless examples of women being murdered by their partners or ex-partners and this is not only a South African issue.
In the world, 119 women are murdered per day, one woman every 12 seconds. Let that sink in.
I know divorce is expensive, but, it doesn’t include prison time. One has to wonder, why would this person who is supposed to love and protect you, decide to murder?
Here are some reasons I found why men choose to murder their partners:
Fear of abandonment or loss. This man cannot imagine a life without his partner. These murders usually take place after the woman threatens to leave the relationship.
Jealousy, when a woman decides to leave the relationship, many times due to abuse, their partners might find this choice unacceptable and conclude that,” if I can’t have you, no one will.”
Another reason is anger. This type of anger will escalate over time, starting with minor incidents until one day, the wife is murdered.
Suicide is also a reason, but many times after the woman has been killed the man changes his mind about killing himself.
Another horrific case was that of Leighandre Jegels, also known as Baby Lee.
Leighandre and her mother were gunned down by her ex-boyfriend in 2019.
She was only 25 years old, a promising young boxer, until police sergeant Bulelani Manyakama decided to end her life violently.
When Leighandre decided to leave the abusive relationship, she got a protection order but still, Manyakama shot her three times, killing her with his service pistol.
I am in no way saying that women don’t kill their partners, because they do.
But your chances of getting murdered by a partner are much higher if you’re a woman.
Now that’s something to think about.
About the author:
Monique Botha is a divorced mother of two and has been living on the South Coast for five years. She completed her higher certificate in criminal justice and is in her final year of completing her bachelor’s degree in criminology. She believes in lifelong learning and is proof that one is never too old to make your dreams a reality.
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