There was a small victory in the onslaught of gender-based violence last week when a traditional healer made a citizen’s arrest against his client — who allegedly raped six northern KwaZulu-Natal schoolgirls — and was seeking protection for his actions.
The serial rape suspect, who like a modern-day Houdini escaped police custody by feigning an asthma attack, had disrupted schooling and terrorised high school girls’ renting rooms near Bizimali High School in the village of Hlosane in Nkandla, northern KwaZulu-Natal.
He sought the services of Dalton Hostel's traditional healer Mnotho Xaba, who had unwittingly helped the suspect weeks earlier on the presumption that no-one would report him, even though his name and face were on social media.
Xaba, a father to three daughters, took it upon himself to ask the right questions before rolling out muti to cleanse the accused. His sense of civic duty and ethics is commendable.
As the sickening GBV reports stack up — a teen’s violated body discovered in Dokodweni sugarcane fields of KwaZulu-Natal on May 22, or Olorato Mongale’s body dumped in Lombardy West on Monday after she went on a date with her alleged killer — it becomes increasingly obvious the battle can’t be contained from within the confines of government institutions or laws.
The culture of toxicity, patriarchy and objectification of women is relentlessly ingrained in our schools, social media and workplaces, and it is incumbent on general society to realise we all have a role and responsibility in fighting the epidemic.
This has in turn sparked a dialogue initiated by KZN premier Thami Ntuli with Amajuba District Traditional Health Practitioners, law enforcement agencies and the justice, crime prevention and security cluster on Tuesday.
Research conducted by the community safety and liaison department in 2023 pointed to an alarming number of youths, especially those associated with gangs, violent crimes, GBV cases and the use of “muti and amabhande” by perpetrators.
The premier said the dialogue is to confront the disturbing trend of traditional healers and charlatans supplying these services to criminals, enabling them to evade justice and feel “invincible”.
This type of engagement reinforces our civic roles and responsibilities in ending the scourge.
It is our failure as leaders, communities, families, employers and neighbours who choose to remain silent on the heinous acts that destroy our very fabric and in turn embolden the brazen valour of the criminals.
They are safe in the knowledge that they can pay or harm their way out of being caught.
But a dent in the armour was recorded last week thanks to Xaba — and a few other foot soldiers heeding the rallying call to get behind active crime prevention engagements to strengthen community safety.
Among those who are calling out GBV criminals and demanding justice are taxi associations — including the Nkandla Taxi Owners Association, who formed a team and travelled more than 230km to his hideout in eTshelimnyama, Mariannhill, to catch the Bizmali serial rapist.
There is also the group of taxi operators from Tamboville and Glenwood communities on the outskirts of Pietermaritzburg, who took to the streets on Sunday to take a stand against GBV and to encourage exposing perpetrators.
University of KwaZulu-Natal master's graduate Noxolo Sibisi’s research — An Exploration of the Exposure of High School Teenagers to Gender‐based Violence with Specific Focus on Intimate Partner Violence: a Case of a Selected School in Inchanga, KwaZulu‐Natal, lifts the lid on an often-ignored crisis: young love tainted by control, coercion and abuse.
Her study revealed a clear pattern of social, economic and cultural pressures shaping the way teenagers experience and normalise intimate partner violence, resulting in them being vulnerable to manipulation both in real life and on social media.
The wins may be small against the barrage of GBV acts, but a win nonetheless and definitely a step in the right direction.
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