The death of Bronwyn Heslop occurred in the Durban North area two weeks ago. The woman was killed on Sunday, July 12th. According to paramedics' report, when they arrived at the scene on Blackburn Road in Durban North, she had already died from gunshot wounds. Two other people were also injured in the incident: a young boy and a delivery driver. The woman's funeral took place on Thursday, July 21st. The shooter has not yet been arrested, but it is suspected that the victim knew her killer.
The woman, whose name was Bronwyn Heslop, was a wife, mother, sister, and friend. Following her death, a TikTok account was created in the hope that Heslop's murder would not go unpunished, and messages of condolence flooded the network.
An acquaintance of Heslop, speaking to IOL, described her as 'a kind, caring person with a big heart.' He added that although they were not close friends, she always gave 'such beautiful, loving hugs.' This case of brutal murder has once again intensified calls for more decisive action against perpetrators of gender-based violence.
Sabrina Walter, founder of Women For Change, expressed shock and deep sorrow over Heslop's death, sending condolences to her family, especially her three children who will now face life without their mother. Walter noted that Bronwyn's circumstances of death reflect a common pattern in cases of violence against women, particularly when victims attempt to leave abusive relationships.
According to her, reports indicate that Bronwyn had long wanted to leave her marriage and allegedly obtained a protection order after accusations of abuse and domestic violence. Walter emphasized that women are at the highest risk when trying to leave abusive relationships. She insisted on the critical importance of supporting protection orders with effective systems capable of protecting survivors from further harm, stressing that no woman should lose her life while choosing safety and freedom.
Walter stated that this case must serve as a reminder of the urgent need to strengthen measures against gender-based violence and femicide in South Africa. She expressed hope for justice for Bronwyn and called for the National Disaster on GBV, declared last November, to move from declaration to full implementation, as every delay endangers women.
Benedicta van Minnen from DA Women’s Network (DAWN) also voiced concern, noting that ongoing acts of violence call into question the ability of law enforcement agencies to prevent such crimes. She stated that SAPS, in her opinion, is failing its constitutional mandate to ensure citizen safety, and insisted that the focus must be on ensuring accountability and justice for Heslop and her family.
Minister in the President for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, Sindisiwe Chikunga, stressed that the scale of gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF) cannot be reduced to statistics, as every figure represents a life lost to violence. She called on men to take responsibility for ending violence against women and children, urging society to oppose harmful attitudes and toxic masculinity.
The South African Council for Medical Research, through its Gender and Health Research Unit, confirmed that South Africa continues to have one of the highest rates of femicide in the world. A woman is killed every few hours approximately six times more often than the global average, most often by someone who once claimed her love. These cases are not impersonal figures, but daughters, mothers, and sisters whose lives have been stolen within an ongoing national emergency.
The article also provided contact details for various support services, including the South African Government's GBV Command Centre, the Department of Social Development, People Opposing Woman Abuse (POWA), Action Breaks Silence, Lifeline, SA Depression & Anxiety Group, and Stop Gender Violence and Women Abuse.
The tragic story of Zenizole Vena has exposed a systemic failure in South Africa's response to child sexual abuse. As Parliament began investigating these issues, the question arose whether this inquiry could become a turning point in child protection.
In September 2022, residents of South Africa were confronted with a shocking story. Fifteen-year-old Zenizole Vena from Mazerville in Gqeberha allegedly endured four days of detention during which she was subjected to group rape. She managed to escape. Suffering from bleeding, vomiting, and seizures, she sought help from state structures, as any child in danger should. However, at a local clinic, she was allegedly told that she first needed to go to the police. She never reached the police station and died.
Zenizole's story revealed more than just shortcomings in one clinic or criminal group. It showed the dangerously fragmented state of government institutions in combating child sexual violence. Three years later, Parliament finally began asking questions that should have been asked long before Zenizole's death. The Parliamentary investigation into criminal slavery, initiated following a motion by the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) in August 2024, forced the country to acknowledge that the problem is not limited to criminal slavery but lies in a systemic failure of identifying, investigating, and prosecuting child sexual exploitation.
Given that the EFF notes thirteen years of consistent advocacy for women's and children's rights, it is worth noting that this investigation did not arise by chance. It resulted from the need for Parliament to examine a contradiction that the government has never properly explained. In the financial year 2024/25 alone, the Ministry of Health registered 2387 births of girls aged 10 to 14 and 114,808 births of girls aged 15 to 19. Meanwhile, the Department of Social Development recorded 9,857 cases of child sexual abuse for the same period, while acknowledging that cases remain significantly underreported.
These figures are shocking in themselves, but they become even more alarming when compared to statistics from the South African Police Service (SAPS). Between 2020 and 2025, SAPS registered only 3,232 cases of criminal slavery nationwide. Of these, 1,853 cases, or 57.3%, were withdrawn before or during trial, and only 449 cases, which is 13.9%, resulted in convictions.
For many years, South Africa viewed criminal slavery as an isolated crime rather than recognizing it as an intersection point of multiple crises. Child sexual abuse cannot be separated from teenage pregnancy; teenage pregnancy from HIV infection among adolescent girls; and vulnerability to HIV/AIDS from age-gap relationships, poverty, coercion, and transactional sex. Child abuse is simultaneously a law enforcement issue, a public health crisis, an educational crisis, a development crisis, and ultimately, a governance crisis.
Adolescents and young women continue to bear a disproportionately heavy burden of new HIV infections. Young women aged 15 to 24 are significantly more likely to contract HIV/AIDS than their male counterparts, primarily due to unequal power dynamics, predatory older men, sexual violence, and structural inequality. Thus, early pregnancies and child sexual exploitation are manifestations of the same social conditions that continue to deprive young women of bodily autonomy, safety, and opportunities.
Despite these interconnected realities, the government has historically responded in isolation. Medical records document pregnancies, Basic Education monitors student attendance and pregnancies, Social Development registers child abuse, SAPS investigates criminal offenses, and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) handles court proceedings.
This is why the National Assembly adopted the EFF's motion presented on August 27, 2024, which ultimately led to the investigation that began in July 2025 and recently presented its briefing. The motion called on the Portfolio Committees on Health, Social Development, Basic Education, Police, and Justice to conduct a joint public participation program on criminal slavery. It recognized that Parliament itself must look beyond departmental boundaries to understand why children continue to be overlooked by the state.
The findings recently presented in the briefing confirm what communities, researchers, and activists have said for years. The investigation established that criminal slavery remains significantly underreported because victims fear retaliation, families often obstruct disclosure, and communities continue to normalize exploitative relationships between adults and children, while professionals obligated to report abuse often fail to meet mandatory reporting obligations.
Equally concerning was the testimony regarding educational institutions. The research presented showed that between 11% and 16% of children aged 15 to 17 were sexually abused, yet only about a third of victims sought help. At the same time, between 2019 and 2022, the South African Council for Educators (SACE) received 474 reports of sexual misconduct involving teachers, while schools continued to report instances of sexual assault occurring in the learning environment.
Therefore, there has always been insistence that every pregnancy involving a child under the age of consent must automatically trigger a multidisciplinary investigation involving medical personnel, SAPS, and social workers. It is unacceptable for a child to give birth before the state determines if that pregnancy is the result of a crime. If the identity of the biological father is unknown, disputed, or intentionally concealed, investigators must be empowered, under judicial oversight and always acting in the best interests of the child, to use DNA testing to establish paternity and identify perpetrators.
Mandatory reporting obligations must also have significant consequences. Teachers, medical staff, and social workers who knowingly fail to report suspected criminal slavery must face serious legal sanctions. Furthermore, Parliament must legislatively adopt an integrated national reporting system linking the Ministries of Health, Basic Education, Social Development, SAPS, and the NPA. It is unacceptable that government departments continue to maintain separate databases that do not allow for reliable determination of whether a child's pregnancy registered by one department is the subject of a criminal investigation by another.
Finally, Parliament must address critical weaknesses in the criminal justice system. More than half of all registered cases of criminal slavery must never disappear before reaching a conclusion. This requires increased investment in family violence, child protection, and sexual offense units, specialized prosecutors, forensic social workers, DNA processing capacity, more Thuthuzela Care Centres, and comprehensive victim support services that allow children and their families to remain engaged throughout lengthy legal processes.
The Parliamentary investigation into criminal slavery must be the moment when South Africa finally acknowledges that child abuse is not merely a collection of isolated crimes, but a profound failure of a democratic state. As the EFF reflects on thirteen years of advocating for women's and children's rights, this investigation serves as a reminder that Parliament is strongest when it transforms public pain into public policy. The motion that initiated this process was never intended to create another report for parliamentary archives; it was designed to compel the state to confront a crisis it has ignored for too long.
On the sidewalk of Che Guevara Street in Durban, hundreds of refugees who fled alleged xenophobic violence have been living for almost two months. Speaking about their experiences with the publication IOL, they described unbearable living conditions and facing violence.
Among the people living in the makeshift camp is Raymond Ramsey, a 36-year-old man from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). He reported that he and hundreds of other people have lacked proper housing for weeks. Ramsey stated that the group's only request is for the government to provide a safe place to live.
Tchomba Kasongo, 51, noted that the circumstances have seriously undermined his physical and mental health as he remains away from his family. He recounted suffering after an alleged shooting and fearing for his safety. Kasongo added that since the alleged leg injury at a police station in central Durban until today, he has felt unwell and is experiencing a loss of sanity.
In recordings obtained by IOL, the man warns Kasongo that his life is allegedly under threat because people are looking for him. These same recordings claim that there are individuals being paid to search for refugees or migrants. Kasongo shared that he received a call saying that some people were looking for him to kill him, and that they knew where he had left his belongings.
He emphasized that the uncertainty has forced him to live in constant fear and worry about the family he had to leave behind. Siyafana Sonke Action Campaign expressed deep concern over the refugees' situation.
Refugees claim they were evicted from their homes as the humanitarian crisis in Durban deepened. The campaign stated that recognized refugees were forced to leave their residences despite having legal status. They claim they were threatened and harassed by people posing as those interested in South African interests, forcing them to move to public spaces without food, medicine, or shelter.
The organization noted that the crisis is exacerbated by broader socio-economic problems. It pointed out that hate groups are exploiting the discontent of the poorest segments of South Africa's population, directing it against the most vulnerable people. The campaign stressed that hundreds of legal refugees, many of whom are families with young children, are on Che Guevara Street and need emergency shelter, while self-defense groups continue illegal evictions and persecution.
The organization clarified that the people on the sidewalk are seeking temporary protection, not permanent housing. It explained that the children and adults on Che Guevara are recognized refugees who cannot return to their home countries due to persecution and conflict, and are being evicted again from the areas where they lived.
Meanwhile, the Refugee Social Services Department warned about the spread of false information regarding aid offered to displaced refugees. This service refuted reports of providing three months of rental assistance. They explained that misinformation creates additional difficulties for vulnerable people, and that they do not have the means to provide such support. The service urged the public to verify information before spreading it.
