LAND Will Not Rest Until Justice is Served

Today we received news of the killing of a 24-year-old woman, at the hands of her partner. Zwelihle in Hermanus, like the rest of South Africa, is being overrun by violence. The Overstrand Municipality sits with a buffed-up Law Enforcement department that hands out traffic tickets for a single malfunctioning light to community members on their way to assist with community needs. A public law enforcement force, armed and fitted with vehicles for rough terrain and K-9 units; parked next to private security vehicles during working hours, on the corners and outskirts of Zwelihle...converging for what?

Meanwhile, inside Zwelihle, businessmen and taxi owners are killed. While we are not going to lament the deaths of the corrupt that seek to destroy people's lives, this does not harden the heart when innocent lives are lost at the whim of a man, caving into a barbaric rage. His weakness, drawing the life from her; reaping the blood from her heart that she entrusted to him.

South Africa's Gender-Based Violence statistics are frightening. So much so, that even our President has spoken about the GBV "pandemic" on a number of occasions. "Pandemic", like the Covid pandemic we are facing at this time of our lives. The media, abuzz with headlines covering Hospitalisation, Vaccination stats, and skepticism. Promises of vaccine mandates not being enforced switch overnight to talk of Vaccine Passports: "a trending topic". New COVID deaths, infection reports, regular updates, and new information to combat the virus, are reported weekly, if not daily. The Pandemic!

What about the GBV Pandemic? If the Gender-Based Violence Pandemic was covered in the media as thoroughly as the Covid Pandemic we would surely see the truly gruesome reality that the majority of South Africans face, dissipate. But who wants to cover multiple rapes and murders each day? Or give weekly updates on the murders that have happened and under which circumstances?

No. We don't expect media coverage for Sinathi Magqazana, the 24-year-old woman from Zwelihle, her brutal murder, or her unashamed attacker. We don't expect a report on every attack that robs a family, a spouse, a child of their loved ones. Yet, we live that reality.

We have a President who talks about that reality every now and again. A President whose Police and Justice ministry released more than 19 000 schedule 8 convicts, without capturing DNA samples. Even though National Boards with appointed judges sit on them, write reports recommending amendments to Bills to improve crime-fighting by collecting and managing DNA databases, those recommendations simply never reach parliament. We have a government that knows what to say to soothe the minds of the population but refuses to act according to their words, to bring peace of mind to citizens.

What is the difference between the Covid pandemic and the GBV pandemic? For one, the rich are able to safeguard themselves to a much greater extent against physical brutality than a contagious virus. So, while the rich, along with everyone else, are faced with the Covid Pandemic, violent crimes are disproportionately the reality of the poor. And the media sells little to the poor, except when it needs the poor to help establish herd immunity against a virus.

LAND Party will not rest until justice has been served for the brutal and senseless murder of Sinathi Magqazana, and everyone who, like her, has paid with their lives for the impulse of an angry man who acts without impunity.

LAND Party will not rest until the societal ills that drive men to commit these heinous crimes are seriously addressed.

While the GBV Pandemic rages rampant throughout South Africa, LAND will not rest.