Three years after his mother was shot while driving grandchildren to school, Sibu Mpansa openly shared his grief amid the discovery of nine women's bodies in the Ekurhuleni region.
Three years ago, Mpansa decided to support the organization Women For Change in its fight against Gender-Based Violence (GBV) in South Africa. However, shortly after registering for the 'Run For Her Women’s Day' initiative, Mpansa's family suffered from the very violence he was advocating against.
His mother was killed by a gunshot in Philippi, Cape Town, on August 3, 2023, while she was taking his niece and nephew to school. At the time, the police stated that the motive for the murder was unknown and appealed to the public for information about the vehicle and the shooter. No arrests were made in the murder case.
The memory of his mother's death was reignited amid the country's ongoing struggle with violence against women, as nine women's bodies were recently found in different parts of Ekurhuleni, including Kempton Park, sparking fear, anger, and the start of a major police investigation into a possible link between these cases.
For Mpansa, the recent deaths reopened an unhealed wound. He recalls receiving a packet to participate in the 'Run For Her' event on August 2, 2023. This initiative was meant to be a way to show solidarity with women and support the fight against GBV.
Mpansa stated: 'She was shot in Philippi while taking my niece and nephew to school on August 3.' The following week, her photo appeared in purple memorial posts published by Women For Change on Instagram. These purple posts are part of the organization's 'Purple Movement,' which uses purple symbolism and avatars on social media to commemorate women who died from GBV and femicide, as well as to raise awareness and demand action.
For Mpansa, seeing his mother among these women was heartbreaking; she ceased to be just a mother whose death he was trying to process, becoming one of the women publicly mourning in South Africa.
Mpansa noted that the tragedy became even more painful due to the long-standing fear he experienced. He had repeatedly spoken about fearing that his mother would die in a terrible and traumatic way, discussing it in therapy. This fear was partly linked to his father's death, as well as what he described as the reality many women face in South Africa.
When this fear became a reality, he experienced severe shock. Instead of processing it through sessions, the fear materialized: his mother was gone, his family grieved, and he was left trying to understand how something he had feared for so long had happened.
Three years later, Mpansa says it is difficult for him to accept that women continue to die violently. His comments came amid the discovery of nine women's bodies in Ekurhuleni, once again putting the issue of violence against women on the public agenda.
The police have formed a multidisciplinary team to investigate these cases and determine if there are links between the deaths. Reports of deaths came from several areas, including Kempton Park, Rhodesfield, and Olifantsfontein. The police urged women to be cautious, especially when walking or running alone in isolated places.
However, investigators have not confirmed that all nine deaths are connected or that a serial killer is responsible. Mpansa believes that news headlines are hard to watch because he knows what happens to a family after a woman becomes a victim: there are family members, children who have to attend funerals, unresolved issues, and grief that does not disappear with the news cycle changing.
Mpansa recounted crying when remembering one of the children left without their mother, specifically Elizabeth 'Tshontso' Moselakgomo, a 38-year-old runner and mother from Kempton Park, whose body was found among the nine. He said his tears were more cathartic, and he cried not so much for himself, but for the eight-year-old girl who would have to attend her mother's funeral.
For him, the pain was not only in the loss of a child but also in the possibility that she would never see justice for her mother's death. Mpansa noted that his own age of 28 helped him understand the harsh realities that followed his mother's death and realize the injustice of the world. However, in his opinion, the eight-year-old girl should not have to know about such injustice.
Mpansa's personal experience after his mother's death showed him how complex it can be to search for answers for families. He recalled numerous calls to the police handling his mother's case and realized that the South African Police Service (SAPS) was ineffective. After the second or third call to the police jurisdiction covering his mother's death, he realized he needed to move on.
But moving on did not mean forgetting; it meant learning to live with unanswered questions and the void left by his mother. Now, as other families await answers about the women who died in Ekurhuleni, Mpansa understands what it is like to wait.
The circumstances of the recent deaths made Mpansa reflect on how ordinary activities can suddenly become dangerous for women. He emphasized that one cannot run, go to the post office, use Uber, or drive children to school in the morning. His own mother died while driving grandchildren to school. Moselakgomo went missing during a run before her body was found.
For Mpansa, these details cannot be ignored. Women's daily activities—running, traveling, working, accompanying children to school—should not be accompanied by the fear that they will not return home. Three years ago, Mpansa wanted to run for strangers, but then his own mother became one of those he mourned. Now he thinks about finally completing that run—for his mother and for the mother of that eight-year-old girl.