Much is made of crime in urban areas and on farms, but
seldom considered is what happens in rural villages, where
the suffering caused by horrendous acts of violence has a
profound effect on communities.
This
Tuesday, Special Assignment travels to the Eastern Cape,
where villagers of the Ngqushwa district feel they are at
the mercy of criminals. They say rapists and murderers are
rarely apprehended, not least because police lack resources
and investigative skills.
In June, 40-year-old Thembisa Hanise was attacked, robbed
and set alight in her home in the village of Qamnyana. In
Hamburg, 35 year old Pumza Gusha was axed to death, while
her two young daughters slept in a room next door.
Workers
at the Peddie Women’s Support Centre, an NGO, say they are
seeing increased levels of violence, directed at women and
girl children. A visit to the area by Safety & Security
Minister Charles Nqakula did little to ease the situation,
says director Fezeka Mantakana. “It didn’t help because
there were cases that he left the police to investigate, but
there is nothing happening… it’s worrying.”
Villagers say they used to be able to send their children on
errands from one village to another. “But now we daren’t”
says traditional healer Bulelani Sikundla.
“We may not see them again.”
Twenty-year old Nolonwabo Koshe disappeared while running an
errand for her mother. Her bones were found in the veld more
than a year later. The body of 5-year-old Anelisa Gxaweni
was found in a grain sack in a shallow dam; the severed head
of 15-year old Vuyokazi Ndlakuhlola was discovered in her
school bag; while a goatherd found his dog eating the
remains of 19-year-old Thembisa Ngadlele. Her devastated
father says he knows exactly who killed her and where he
lives, but that the police don’t have the know-how or the
inclination to do a proper investigation.
Thembisa’s Bones is produced by Jessica Pitchford,
with poignant visuals by award-winning cameraman Ivan
Oberholzer.
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