Intruder rapes and murders KZN pensioner, allegedly rapes two granddaughters in home

A team of social workers has been deployed to Impendle, in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands, to provide counselling to the family of a pensioner who was raped and killed in her home on Saturday night.

According to the province's social welfare department, the elderly woman's two granddaughters — aged 25 and 22 — were also allegedly raped after an intruder gained access to their home at about 10pm.

“At approximately 10pm on Saturday, an intruder forced the door open to gain entry to the home of a 73-year-old woman who was with her granddaughters aged between 22 and 25 years.

“The man allegedly threatened the defenceless women with a sharp object and raped all of them before killing the old woman,” said Nonhlanhla Khoza, social welfare MEC.

“We have seen a dramatic increase in incidents of gender-based violence, murder and rapes. We are deeply concerned about the ongoing spate of gender based-violence,” said Khoza.

“Government has introduced a number of interventions to confront the scourge but we often hear about these incidents.”

Khoza said a team of social workers had been dispatched to provide psychosocial support to the family and rape victims.

The ANC Women's League in KwaZulu-Natal (ANCWL) said on Monday that while the lockdown was an effective way of curbing Covid-19, it has not stopped women from being subjected to violence.

Spokesperson Mbali Frazer said the league was “deeply concerned about the growing numbers of reported cases of gender-based violence during lockdown”.

Frazer said a gender-based violence victim from Ixopo took to social media to highlight the abuse she allegedly endured at the hands of a close relative, whom she claimed attempted to strangle her and then chased her away from the family home.

The woman subsequently opened a case at the local police station.

“Most of the abusers are close to the victims. The lockdown is an effective way of curbing the coronavirus which is attacking the world, however, it's other unintended consequence has been the rise in gender-based violence reports.”

Frazer said the ANCWL was planning to launch a discussion platform where women would be given a voice to articulate their experiences of gender-based violence and also be given access to support to deal with their trauma.