Introduction

Any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in physical, sexual, or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion, or arbitrary deprivations of liberty, whether occurring in public or private life is termed as Gender Based Violence. 

The Crime Scene and Luyanda Botha’s Confession

The Clareinch Post Office sits between a high school and a police station and across is a pet store called Pets Aquaria on a busy road in the southern suburbs of Cape Town. Uyinene “Nene” Mrwetyana, born on the 20th of April 2000, was a South African student at the University of Cape Town. On August 24, 2019, she was raped and murdered in Claremont. The perpetrator, Luyanda Botha, planned the attack, luring her to the post office after hours and then assaulting her. In court, Luyanda confessed to killing Uyinene, sexually violating her against her will before and after she was deceased, and proceeded to set her alight. He did so because he wanted to get rid of all forensic evidence, so he hired someone to clean the car. The 42-year-old post office worker was handed three life sentences for the gruesome crime. He was also given five years for defeating the ends of justice. Luyanda will serve 25 years before he can be considered for release on parole and has been declared unfit to own a firearm.

Mother’s Reaction

Her mother was distraught during the funeral service and went on to say: “I’m sorry I warned you about so many places, but never the post office.” She said that her daughter’s murder leaves a consistently fresh wound. She continued to plea for the post office to be transformed, saying that they did not want any other family going through this. She called on the men at the funeral to hold each other accountable. “We will never forget you and we’ll continue fighting for safer societies for women.”, her mother lamented. 

Impact of Uyinene’s Death 

Her death highlighted the broader issue of gender-based violence and femicide in South Africa. Many pinned the reaction to her death, which culminated in the #AmINext movement, down to the fact that it happened while the first-year student was running day-to-day errands. Her murder sparked a nationwide outcry and mass protests against gender-based violence (GBV).

Death Penalty

Her death further resulted to many South African women who expressed their frustrations that the punishment was not enough to deter perpetrators of sexual violence. Since then (her death) a petition has been circulating for years calling for the death penalty for rape and other offenses against women is gaining momentum and has garnered more than 600,000 signatures. “We will use every means at the disposal of the state – from the police service to the justice system, from social development programs to our school curriculum – to strengthen all parts of our national response to gender-based violence,” affirmed South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa. 

http://www.linkedin.com/in/oramokgatle30b