Police agreed to re-arrest a teenager accused of rape and attempted murder after more than 200 angry protesters toyi-toyiied outside the Grahamstown Police Station on Friday.
Police agreed to re-arrest a teenager accused of rape and attempted murder after more than 200 angry protesters toyi-toyiied outside the Grahamstown Police Station on Friday.
The boy, 16, arrested the previous weekend as a suspect in an attack on a woman in Section 6, had been released on Monday into the custody of his parents. For two hours the marchers, mostly young women, sang, chanted, and waved placards bearing slogans, such as "Rapists must rot in jail", as their leaders negotiated with police captain Nomaxabiso Magula, who eventually agreed that the accused would be re-arrested and placed in a place of safety.
The police station protest followed dramatic scenes earlier in High Street, where the group vented their fury before the appearance of another man facing charges of rape and murder in the Grahamstown Magistrate's Court. Court proceedings were delayed for 30 minutes when residents refused to leave the already packed courtroom where Mvuzo Matebese was due to appear for a formal bail application.
The magistrate threatened to proceed with the matter in camera, if the residents continued to be disruptive. Inside the courtroom, about 12 police officers were called to keep an eye on the group, who were baying for Matebese's blood, shouting, “No bail for Mvuzo”. Matebese,18, of Tantyi Location, faces charges of rape, murder and theft, in connection with the rape and murder of Zingisa Centwa,18, whose body was found in Lukwe Street a few days before Christmas.
Grahamstown residents have been appalled by the brutal nature of the young woman's death, moved by the tragedy of her family's, and the community's, loss, and pained by the bitter irony of the fact that the former matric pupil at Nombulelo Secondary School passed with flying colours. Zingisa's rape and murder – and the subsequent attack on a woman in Extension 6 – have thus become rallying points for the residents' concerns about safety in the township.
The Women's Social Forum mobilised the protesters, who waved placards outside court bearing the name of the accused, next to ones carrying slogans such as “Rapists must rot in jail”. Ayanda Kota, of the Unemployed People's Movement, cmarch co-organisers, declared Friday a day for justice. “Let our voice be heard. Women are under attack in this country. There are 40 cases of rape which occurred just during December,” said Kota, who also claimed that a woman gang-raped on Boxing Day had been told by police to look for the perpetrators herself.
Also having her say in sympathy with the marchers was national deputy secretary general of the Azanian People's Organisation, Nontobeko Yawa, who was in town on organisational business. Yawa called for the severest sentences possible for rapists. “A rapist must rot in jail, because when they are released they come back and do more evil,” she said.
Zandile Radebe of Blackwash, a social movement based in Johannesburg, also joined the marchers. Donning a black T-shirt bearing the words, “F**k 16 Days of Activism”, Radebe commended the marchers for standing up against women abuse. “Women are vulnerable in this country, and 16 Days of Activism is not enough. If the government were serious about women abuse, the campaign would take place for 365 days,” said Radebe.
Matebese briefly appeared, and there was jubilation when he abandoned his bail application. “We would have killed him,” shouted one resident. Matebese's case was postponed to 9 February for further investigation. The case of the teenager accused of rape and attempted murder was postponed to 25 January for psychological assessment and further investigation.
