‘Still bleeding and grieving’: Calls for justice grow as Kimberley honours GBVF victims

SOUTH Africa’s move to classify gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF) as a national disaster has strengthened calls for urgent, meaningful intervention – a message echoed in Kimberley when hundreds of residents gathered to honour victims and demand accountability.

Residents gathered at Sol Plaatje University on Friday to pay tribute to the long list of GBVF victims and survivors in the city.

One of the organisers, Khumoe Pienaar, said about 400 students and women’s rights activists took part in the event, calling for GBVF to be declared a national crisis. “We can no longer be silent,” she said.

Participants lay on the ground for 15 minutes at noon on November 21 and lit candles for those who had lost their lives at the hands of abusive partners or family members.

Among those who joined the event were relatives of Mandy Bailey, who was shot and killed in December 2023 in the presence of her nine-year-old daughter. Her ex-husband, Alberto Matthews, was found guilty of her murder on November 21.

The name of GBVF activist Chareen Augustine, whose murder remains unsolved, was also honoured on the roll of GBVF heroines. She was found strangled in her Stamford Street home in August 2022. A suspect – the only person who had keys to her house – was questioned but later released. 

Augustine worked at the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture, and her murder deeply distressed family members, colleagues and activists alike.

Members of the public were also mobilised to attend the pre-trial hearing on November 24 for the murder of Charmaine Anthony, who was fatally shot in Minerva Gardens on December 21, 2024.

Families ‘still bleeding and grieving’

Othusitse Norman Letebele, the father of Refilwe “Fifi” Letebele, told the gathering that bereaved families received inadequate support. Refilwe was stabbed several times and her throat slit at her Barkly Road home in January 2018, in an attack reportedly carried out by her ex-boyfriend, Siyanda Gxwati. The incident occurred in the presence of her 13-year-old cousin.

Ohusitse said that his family had still not come to terms with his daughter’s senseless and cruel murder. 

“We are still bleeding and grieving. Times like these we are reminded of the pain where our wounds are ripped open afresh,” he said. “Nobody talks about the people who are left behind. We can no longer tolerate the blood of our daughters, women and grandmothers. GBVF must stop.”

Gxwati, a local rugby player, committed suicide shortly before his case was due to be heard in the Northern Cape High Court. He hanged himself in the garage of his parental home in Bloemfontein in March 2021, leading to the matter being struck from the court roll.

Ohusitse appealed to lawmakers to ensure that survivors of GBVF and the families of victims receive meaningful support.

“While accused persons are given psychological counselling and are transported to court on the taxpayer’s bill, we received no counselling or support,” he said. “I was based in Polokwane at the time and had to fund my own transport and accommodation to attend court proceedings. This is while the accused was given three meals a day and slept for free for the time he was kept in custody.”

Marchers call for justice, accountability and support

Meanwhile, Women Waging War Against GBVF, Women for Change, Women of Substance, Justice4All and Women of Wisdom marched from the Kimberley Information Centre to the Office of the Premier, joined by police officers who wore purple ribbons.

Herbert Miller from Justice4All said women and children were being raped by pastors, police officers and school teachers.

He questioned how the R22 billion allocated by various government departments towards the implementation of the National Strategic Plan on GBVF had been spent, and called for forensic laboratories to be opened in every province.

“The DNA backlogs are delaying justice,” he said.

Women Waging War against GBVF, poverty and inequality convenor Milly Wolfe said perpetrators must receive the same punishment regardless of their position in society.

“This province is evil – how can we be silent when children as young as five years old are being raped?” she asked. “GBVF has reached catastrophic proportions, where the country has the highest femicide rates in the world. Women, children, the LGBTQI community, the elderly and the disabled face violence daily while perpetrators roam free. Today we rise in our numbers to demand action and accountability.”

She also called for protection for whistle-blowers, noting that women who speak out are often victimised and intimidated.

There were also calls for complaints from men who experience abuse to be treated with the same seriousness.

The MEC for Transport, Safety and Liaison, Limakatso Koloi, who accepted the memorandum, urged both men and women to join hands in fighting the scourge of GBVF.

“Men must play an integral part in preventing the abuse of women and children,” she said.