By: Lungisa Somtombo
East London men and women took a stand against femicide and marched from North End Stadium to East London City Hall to handover a list of demands to the South African Police Services, National Prosecuting Authority and Executive Mayor’s Office.
This is after three East London women, namely Uyinene Mrwetyana, Leighandre Jagels and Angelique Clark-Abrahams died at the hands of men in August.
One of the organisers of the East London Total shutdown march, Siya Rumbu said after a number of women were dying in the hands of men, they took a decision to rise and account for these actions.
Rumbu added that the March is also a launch for a movement they are planning. They will do a follow up on the list of demands handed over to authorities.
“We are going to visit schools and adopt a boy child as the issue is with men, we want to make sure that we groom boys from a young age, because when we go out we fear other men” said Rumbu.
Nasiphi Nazo from Amalinda said she is part of this march because it means so much to her as she is a survivor of gender based violence.
“This is a good move because when it happened to me there was no one to stand up for me. We are here to be the voice of other women who suffer in silence,” said Nazo.
Speaking to the crowd Luhle Bottoman said he decided to be part of the march as he was also perpetrator before and is not proud of that but he since has changed.
Further, he said he saw that the common factor in femicide is men and this needs men to talk to one another and stop each other from laying hands on women.
“My brother, it starts with a small push, the minute you push a woman you have already disrespected her enough to a point where the next time you are going to shoot her,” he said.
Explaining the list of demands, Bottoman said they included the issue of privacy when women go to police stations to report rape cases. The municipality’s intervention in creating an East London Brotherhood Club where men will come together and talk about their issues, they want the perpetrators to be arrested after a case of rape is opened against him and they need a harsher sentence for perpetrators of gender based violence and femicide.
The SAPS, NPA and the Mayor’s Office were given 14 days to respond to the list of demands handed over today.