The community of Mabeskraal near Rustenburg in the North West is up in arms after the rape and murder of a resident, allegedly by a parolee.
The suspect has been arrested. Residents says 46-year-old Kgomotso Rose Mokwane is the latest victim in a series of rapes and murders committed against women in Mabeskraal.
They say the police fail to apprehend perpetrators of gender-based violence, which is in the increase, in their village.
The mother of four, Kgomotso Rose Mokwane, was allegedly raped and stabbed in the head, three times. She was found on a road in the village.
Mokwane died in hospital.
Christina Mokwane explains her sister Kgomotso’s condition when they found her.
“She was raped and killed here. We found her in a pool of blood, naked. The person who did this is not human. Why didn’t he just rape her then, instead of killing her? That’s what I asked myself. He stabbed her in the head. Her forehead. The stab wound that was just above the eye shocked me the most. That broke me the most. He didn’t have to kill her. Her children are now on their own.”
Her daughter, Virginia Mokwane, still cannot believe her mother is dead. She says she doesn’t feel safe anymore.
“I am one of those who saw my mom’s body. I couldn’t believe it. Seeing her laying on the ground, I thought maybe she was calling me for help. This has affected so much because we were so close. Don’t feel safe anymore. I intend to resign from work because I knock off very late. The person who did this can attack us anytime once he gets bail.”
Police have confirmed that the perpetrator, who has been arrested, was on parole. He was convicted for murder thirteen years ago.
Police Spokesperson in the North West, Brigadier Sabata Mokgwabone says, “We can confirm that the accused Tshepo Motsisi as arrested soon after the incident. The accused was at the time of his arrest on parole supervision after being arrested for murder and robbery committed in January 2006. He was ultimately sentenced to 25 years imprisonment in February 2009.”
The community is fuming. They blame the police for failing to deal with local crime, in particular murder cases, which they say are on the increase.
“There have been murders taking place in our area. There’s nothing that has been done by the police by the courts. So we don’t know what to do anymore because if we take matters into our own hands, the police will arrest us.”
Self-defence classes
A local Non-Profit Organisation has volunteered to teach women self-defence classes to survive GBV and femicide, hoping this will cases of violence on women and children, as explained by representative Christopher Koitsioe.
“We formed this organisation to minimize the deaths that are being committed in our village, that is also the reason why we are meeting with organisations, moreover the women, to protect themselves against men. We are also engaging in training the women for self-defence because we can see that without doing that our women are going to be killed.”
Police say the alleged increase in GBV cases should be reported.
Brigadier Mokgwabone explains, “We are committed to rendering a professional service to our communities. Therefore we would like to urge members of the community who are complaining about specific cases and apparent increasing crime to see the station commander of Sun City.”
The suspect is expected to appear before Mogwase Magistrate’s court on Monday.
Lamola says community, criminal justice system must work as unit to fight GBV perpetrators
