IT is now a reality that some people can’t take it anymore as they feel they have exhausted all avenues of survival. Unemployment, lack of financial opportunities and life demands have left some people hopeless with no choice but to end their lives.
According to a 2022 report compiled by SA Federation for Mental from Global Health Estimates, Mzansi has the third-highest suicide rate of suicides out of all African countries, at 23,5 per 100 000 population.
But recently, suicide has taken an interesting path in claiming people’s lives. Recent reports highlight that people are now killing themselves because of poverty. They feel they can't change the situation because they have depended on others for a long time.
Poverty has become so rife that people can’t see beyond it.
In a space of a week, Daily Sun has published shocking stories affecting two separate families where people took their lives and the lives of their loved ones because of the poverty situation they found themselves in.
On 11 August, Daily Sun ran a story headlined, Poverty killed my Tshedimoso!
The story is about Sophie Masetloa, a mother who wants answers as she alleges that a local school led to the death of her son. The mother from Suuruman in Hammanskraal, Tshwane said after Moditela Secondary School in her kasi stopped her from selling food on their premises in 2020, she never thought that it would affect her son, Tshedimoso Masetloa (24).
Sophie said she had been selling at the school for 15 years and was a breadwinner for the family of four. But after she stopped selling, poverty hit. She said her son killed himself after he failed to convince the school to allow her to sell on their premises again, adding that he used a rope to commit suicide in the bushes.
Again on 10 August, Daily Sun ran a story headlined, Bongeka's desperate escape from hunger! This saw a mother from the Eastern Cape who decided she would rather die than starve to death with her three kids. Bongeka Buso (38) from Tholeni Village in Butterworth reportedly killed herself along with her three kids because she allegedly saw death as the only way out of poverty. It reads that the gruesome discovery of the bodies of Bongeka and her children Anathi (14), Orabile (9), and Oratile (5) was discovered by a mashonisa, who allegedly came to collect a debt.
Has poverty hit so hard that people see no reason to live? People must not lose hope, as there is help out there. One can always call the National Suicide Crisis Line on 0800 567 567.
The help line is available 24 hours in all South African official languages.
