By: Zethu Gweva
“By the Grace of God, I survived. I could have died, permanently crippled or mentally disturbed but fortunately I survived.”
Those were the words of Fashion Designer Masimzukise Jack from Dimbaza who was almost killed because of his sexuality.
The fashion designer alleged that he was attacked in his nephew’s hut in an initiation school after he reprimanded his nephew’s caretaker (ikhankatha) about his recklessness and negligence.
“This must have angered him because a few moments later he came back with a mob of his friends, one of them with an axe, they dragged me out of the hut, I felt the axe hit my head I helplessly laid there unconscious watching, as more than ten men beat me up,” he said.
According to Jack, he uses fashion to express what he went through because the South African justice system failed him.
He added that, instead of keeping quiet and feeling sorry for himself, he came up with an idea of making his Die Hard collection to release his pain.
“I decided to make a noise with my products by coming up with my Die Hard collection that helped me to regain my confidence because not anyone would have survived that traumatic experience,” said Jack.
In addition, Jack makes cushions with quotes that express his gratitude for surviving the attack. He conveyed that people who have been attacked because of their sexual preferences
must just stay strong and positive as this can happen to anyone.
“The attack made me realise that we are still going to experience more crime and violence from men because people who are mentoring the boys during the manhood journey are not teaching them the right things.
Many boys change for the worst after they come from the initiation school,” he said.