DEPUTY minister in the Presidency Nomasonto Motaung has condemned a range of recent killings of women in the Thabo Mofutsanyana region in the Free State.
The Motaung noted with concern two horrible incidents where a 92-year-old gogo was brutalised allegedly by a 27-year-old man and the untimely death of Dikeledi Cecilia Ramei (42), who was stabbed to death by her ex-boyfriend (59).
The two incidents occurred in Ficksburg and QwaQwa, respectively. Motaung blamed the wrong values of growing a boy child in South African communities.
"We cannot defeat gender-based violence and femicide if we don't teach our boy child how to handle women. We need to create an intensive programme that will change how men think towards women. This is a societal problem. Our culture taught us to focus only on a girl child because she will be married, and we neglected a child boy."
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"We don't support any form of crime. We have a strong belief that our justice system will deal with the perpetrators. It's even worse because the country is commemorating 16 days of activism against gender-based violence," she said
Many women have been brutalised in senseless attacks throughout the province since the inception of the festive season.
Gogo's alleged killer, Katleho Victor Mthembu (27), made a brief appearance in the Makwane Magistrates Court on Wednesday, 29 November, facing a charge of murder.
The case has been postponed to Tuesday, 30 January 2024.
