Lerato Sengadi: We have a better chance of surviving Covid-19 than femicide

Lerato Sengadi believes women have a better chance of surviving Covid-19 than abuse at the hands of a partner as the scourge of femicide continues to rise. 

Gender-based violence hit the headlines again this week after the murders of Tshegofatso Pule and Naledi Phangindawo reignited calls for the government to take action.

Tshegofatso was found hanging from a tree in an open veld in Roodepoort on Monday after going missing last week. She was eight months pregnant.

Naledi was attacked while attending a cultural function over the weekend in KwaNonqaba, Mossel Bay.

Lerato was outraged by the deaths and asked why the country was banning the sale of cigarettes and implementing lockdown measures when women were more likely to be killed by a partner than Covid-19.

“Why are cigarettes even an issue if we are more likely to die at the hands of an animal? Just let us women drink, smoke, not wear masks, brunch and so on because we have a better chance of surviving Covid-19 than this s**t!," she wrote.

She called for a total shutdown of the country to address femicide and said a march would not do.

Socialite Babalwa Mneno added her voice to the outcry, claiming that “being a black woman in SA is worse than being a black man in the US”.

She called for a “death sentence” to be given to Tshegofatso's killer.