Editorial: Stop attacks on vulnerable citizens

Mahatma Gandhi said: "A nation's greatness is measured by how it treats its weakest members." This explains why the news of the brutal attacks on our women and children has been making international headlines.

Judging by the number of attacks on women and children since the beginning of the year, South Africa is yet to heed Gandhi's wise counsel.

In a sombre address to Parliament this week, Deputy Justice Minister John Jeffery read out the names of about 20 women and children who had been attacked this year alone.

He released the names after the recent brutal killings of Karabo Mokoena, three-year-old Courtney Pieters and Lerato Moloi, a lesbian recently stoned to death in Soweto.

Also on the list are names of women who have been kidnapped, mutilated, raped, maimed and killed. Some had their bodies burnt and dumped in the bushes.

While such attacks are not new, they have become more gruesome.

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Take the case of Nicola Pienaar, 28, from whose body a foetus was cut. There is also Nosipho Mandleleni, who was sjambokked to death, and Meisie Molefe, who was murdered, doused with paraffin and set alight.

Children are not spared. Three-year old twins Maximo and Octavia Yela were found murdered in Hout Bay. Four-year old Iyapha Yamile's mutilated body was discovered three blocks from her Khayelitsha home. Her body had been stuffed in a plastic bag.

These are just a few of the cases that we know of. The names read out in parliament are those of cases reported to law enforcement agencies. Woman and child abuse remains a big problem in South Africa. Thousands suffer in silence. They are either too scared to speak out or have no one to talk to.

According to StatsSA, one in five partnered women has experienced physical violence at the hands of a partner. Ten percent of women aged 18 to 24 have been physically violated by their partners in the past year. Violence against women occurs in all socioeconomic, race, age and religious groups.

With such statistics, this scourge is clearly rampant. If we are to win the fight, all of us must unite against it.

The men's march in Pretoria yesterday was only the beginning. To win this war, we will need more than just a march along the streets of the capital.

What is required is for men to change their attitudes towards women and children. We need men to lead this fight.

"For a long time, men have been very quiet. You hear a lady screaming next door, you decide to sleep when you know there is a problem next door. No man should beat a woman or rape a woman while you're watching," said Kholofelo Masha, one of the organisers.

Of course this is right. Men have been quiet for far too long. They must now stand and speak up against this abuse whenever it happens - in their homes, workplaces, neighbourhoods, schools and churches.