By: Nosipho Haya-Komisa
EFF in the Eastern Cape is calling on courts to mete out heavy sentences against men found guilty of killing and abusing women and children in the country. This is after a 43-year-old woman from Reeston by the name of Lindelwa Peni was found dead with multiple wounds in a bushy area at Chicken farm on Sunday last week.
In a statement issued by the EFF early this week, the party condemned the brutal killing of women. It said it’s concerned about alarming instances of gender-based violence in the country and in the Eastern Cape.
A 61-year-old taxi driver was arrested at Ncerha Village 7 on Monday for allegedly killing Peni. He has been charged for kidnapping and murder. EFF provincial chairperson Yazini Tetyana called on men and women to work together to root out gender-based violence in their communities.
“We call for men and women to work together in order to overcome the violence that is prevalent in our communities. As we cannot overcome violence alone while other social ills linked to inequality, poverty and unemployment persist,” he said.
Tetyana appealed to government to embark on awareness campaigns in society.
“We call for the Department of Social Development to launch community-based awareness campaigns and to have Social Workers permanently deployed to schools and youth centres in the fight against GBV,” said Tetyana.
EFF spokesperson in the Buffalo City region Siya Rumbu said women and children abuse does not prove manhood.
“No words can express the grief you are going through, we have opened our doors for you should you require any support. The spike in cases of gender-based violence is worrisome and requires that all of us take it head-on. We condemn the behaviour of men with fragile egos who believe that abusing women and children is the way to prove their manhood,” said Rumbu.
The 61-year-old taxi driver briefly appeared at the East London Magistrate Court on Wednesday but the case was postponed until the 16th. His bail application will be heard on the 23rd of June 2020.