Violence against women and children has been on the rise in recent times in South Africa. Statistics have it that a woman is killed by someone she knows every eight hours somewhere in South Africa. United by rage over this rise in violence against women and children, hundreds of protesters, mostly men, have marched in the capital city of Pretoria to denounce the phenomenon.

The discovery of a child’s body in an open field in Lenasia has added to a spate of violent killings and child rapes that have shocked South Africans added to the need for this march.

Reports have it that a hunter discovered the body on Friday 19th May, and the remains are believed to be that of 9-year-old Keketso Mahlakwana, who went missing on Tuesday 16th May.

Other than this, the march is reported to be in response to a group calling itself #NotInMyName, which further follows the recent murder of a 22-year-old lady named Karabo who was reported to have been killed by her boyfriend as well the murder of a 3-year-old girl who was raped.

Kholofelo Masha, who is one of the organisers of the protest march, said: “The time to take collective responsibility for our shameful action is now.”

Adding to the statement above, Nicholas Mashidi, one of the protesters said: “You know the number of deaths that have been going on in our country lately, I mean, one cannot silence himself and say that he didn’t see what is happening in our country… we have to stand up as men and say no to these killings and abuse of women and children.”

During the course of the protest, a well-known survivor, Bukelwa Moerane, shared her story with marchers about how she survived abduction earlier this year.

“I am a lucky survivor,” she said. “I was abducted on 12th February this year. To save my life, I jumped out of a moving car and I ran.”

“Why did I speak out? I spoke out because I really wanted this to stop. I really wanted women to take a stand for themselves and for the killings to stop,” she said.

Other citizens have also taken to various social media platforms to applaud the #NotInMyName campaign.


“The issue of violence against women and children and girls in South Africa cannot continue,” said Themba Kalua, a representative of UN Women South Africa.

“For it to stop, it requires all of us to come together. We can no longer keep quiet. This is a call to all of us here. There is something we can do within our sphere of influence, within our homes, within our communities,” he charged the crowd.

It is no new fact that certain reports of rape and murder have dominated the headlines and front pages recently in South Africa, a country where one in five women is said to have been subjected to at least one act of violent aggression in her life.

Just recently, there was the case of 13-year-old Kitso Mothibe. Ms Mothibe went missing a few weeks ago and the executive mayor Herman Mashaba and MMC for public safety Michael Sun have joined forces to continue in her search.

Mashaba and Mr Sun led the task team into Cape York, an abandoned building in Jeppe Street where some family members thought she may have been taken. The force raided two separate dilapidated buildings in the area. Kitso has been missing for three weeks and her family believes she was kidnapped. The search is still on as her family earnestly prays she turns up alive.

These recent killings and abductions have caught the attention of President Jacob Zuma, who on Thursday afternoon visited the family and home of 3-year-old Courtney Pieters, who was allegedly raped and murdered by a family friend and tenant, earlier this month.

During his visit, Zuma faulted the police handling the Pieters case, saying they could have “found the body, we could have found the blood” had the “police searched the home and taken the case seriously enough.”

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