During South Africa's National Dialogue, which was part of the Pilot Dialogue on GBVF sectors in Cape Town, participants paid tribute to the victims of the Kempton Park murders after the discovery of the ninth body.
The issues raised during the dialogue are planned to be included in a report that will be presented to President Cyril Ramaphosa. On Thursday, representatives of the local community, social workers, police officers, and criminal analysts gathered at the Lentegeur police station, where the GBVF sector of the South Africa National Dialogue met.
Many attendees noted that fear is well-known among residents of the Western Cape, which has faced several cases of femicide and high-profile cases such as the 'Station Strangler' murders.
As candles were lit, Vanessa Samuel-Chetty from the GBVF Sector of the National Dialogue Steering Committee informed participants about the discovery of the ninth woman's body. This body was found discarded on the side of the road in Don Park, Boxburg.
Starting the event, Lentegeur station commander, Colonel Umavathie Rameshwarnath, stated that, similar to the situation in Kempton Park, gender-based violence, femicide, and assaults are serious problems in the Western Cape.
Vanessa Samuel-Chetty, representing the GBVF Sector of the National Dialogue Steering Committee, emphasized that this is an extremely difficult time for women in South Africa. She quoted comments from Facebook, noting that due to what is happening, women are facing enormous difficulties.
She stated: 'We need protection. The killer does not understand that you are also a mother or a daughter. He takes a life and demonstrates male anger towards women. I say that in Kempton Park, and even here, you are not safe. Who will protect us, women?'
Rameshwarnath urged victims to report cases of gender-based violence.
Calls for more decisive action against gender-based violence
Samuel-Chetty shared her traumatic experience as a survivor of childhood sexual abuse and appealed to communities to start a healing process for boys to reduce the level of gender-based violence.
She recounted that she only publicly started speaking about what happened in 2018, by speaking at an international conference. However, God prompted her to start working in the community 39 years ago, beginning with working with victims.
Initially, she realized that the cycle of violence and rape could not be broken by working only with survivors. Then the Lord prompted her to tell the story of her abuser. He was a young man who grew up in a home dominated by substance abuse. He saw his father repeatedly rape his mother, leaving her bleeding on the floor; violence was their language of love.
At the age of 19, he witnessed his brother's suicide, found hanged from a tree. Since the age of 11, he had been exposed to substances and was already addicted by then. He only knew violence and did not know how to respect a woman's body, since his father never respected his mother's body. It was hard for her to tell the story of her abuser, but to break the cycle of abuse, work must be done on raising boys.
Edgar Mabote, head of the National Dialogue project, reported that the data collected during meetings across the country will be included in a report for the president. He clarified that the contract for the National Dialogue was initiated by the country's president, who acts as the organizer.
Mabote explained that the goal of the dialogue is not just conversation, but finding solutions. The National Dialogue was launched to hear the voice of every citizen of South Africa. It is a project led by the citizens themselves, and the government acts only as an assistant to the process. A report is compiled based on the results for the organizer, i.e., the president, indicating what the community believes needs to be done, providing citizens with a platform to make changes.
Zoraya Petersen, Deputy Chairperson of Subforum Sector 5 in Lentegeur, noted that the Kempton Park murders have rekindled the fear and anxiety people felt during the 'Station Strangler' case between 1986 and 1994. She shared that she learned about what was happening only through her 11-year-old son, who was shocked, and then watched the news. She added: 'It is scary to sit here and hear that another body has been found.' She stressed the need to find the perpetrator, noting that even being in Cape Town, it evokes a sense of fear, taking people back to the times of the 'Station Strangler.'