Mpumalanga ANC concerned with escalating incidents of gender-based violence

Dennis TJune 8, 2022

21 1 minute read

The African National Congress (ANC) in Mpumalanga has raised concerns about the escalating incidents of gender-based violence (GBV), abduction of children for body harvesting and killings.

Speaking during a media briefing, Mpumalanga ANC provincial secretary Muzi Chirwa outlines the party’s plan of action to fight against GBV. Chirwa says they will work together with interfaith groups to hold prayers and protest marches.

“Part and parcel would be marches that will be sending memorandums and petitions to our judiciary to ensure that these criminals who are doing these crimes are arrested,” adds Chirwa.

In May, a march was held in the Eastern Cape to demand the arrest of the perpetrators in the murder of Namhla Mtwa. The march came after a national outcry when police failed to arrest her killers.

Namhla was shot nine times and declared dead on the scene. Meanwhile, Congress of Traditional Leaders of South Africa (Contralesa) president Chief Lameck Mokoena has called for a referendum on the death penalty.

Mokoena says the killing of women and children in the country is cause for concern. This follows the arrest of three people who appeared in the Kabokweni Magistrate’s Court in Mpumalanga on Monday.

Three suspects are charged with the kidnapping, rape and murder of six-year-old Bontle Mashiyane whose mutilated body was found dumped near her home in May this year. Mokoena says many of the perpetrators are former convicts who are out on parole.

“The brutal killing of the innocent young girl at Mganduzweni and many other incidences in this country is a cause for concern. The killing of women and children has gone out of hand and what makes it worse is that many of the perpetrators are former convicts who are out on parole.