The cases Action Society attended this week highlights the violence women and children in South Africa constantly face. Action Society supported the victims and families of violent rape and murder at court.
Thimna Kuze, an innocent 13-year-old Khayelitsha girl, was sleeping over at a friend’s house in March this year when she was last seen alive. Her dead body was discovered the following day in a nearby shack, with blood in her nose, mouth and groin area. It is believed that she was raped before she was killed.
The suspect in her murder appeared at the Khayelitsha Magistrates Court on Wednesday, where the matter was postponed to 16 November for further investigation.
Lily (45) was gang raped in December last year in a cruel act that has scarred her forever. Action Society took on the case in August, and our initial goal was to provide Lily with a sign language interpreter to hear her side of the story.
As in previous appearances, the local deaf community gathered outside the court in support of Lily and her family.
The case was moved from the Bishop Lavis Magistrates’ Court, to the regional court where the matter was postponed to 8 November 2023.
Alwaba Sondara was brutally beaten by her boyfriend, Asiwe Khulwana (28 at the time) on 18 December 2021. The accused took her to the Khayelitsha hospital more than an hour away and then fled the area. Later, she was transferred to Tygerberg Hospital where she remained in a coma until she died on 12 January 2022. The case has been postponed to March 24, 2024. He was denied bail and will remain in custody.
A 19-year-old girl was allegedly raped by a well-known photographer a year ago while on a photoshoot. He appeared at the Paarl Regional Court on Friday where the matter was postponed to 28 November 2023.
Suritha Althing was stabbed to death on her way home from a restaurant. The accused stood before the Parow Court on Friday and the case was postponed to 25 October 2023.
Action Society also welcomes the sentence imposed on a rapist and child groomer for committing crimes against children between the ages of seven and 12 years old in the Western Cape.
The Vredenburg Regional Court sentenced the 49-year-old man to 30 years direct imprisonment after convicting him of rape and committing other lewd acts on children. The father of three daughters targeted children who visited his daughter.
“What this man did to these children is not only shocking but extremely disturbing and disgusting. There should be no place for this man in society, he is a clear danger to children. We are calling on the government to take crimes against women and children seriously. Action Society will continue to call for harsher punishment of perpetrators who commit crimes against women and children. We need to take a stand so that sexual predators fear the consequences of their actions,” said Action Society’s Kaylynn Palm.
“In all of these cases the victims are vulnerable members of society – one a teenager and the other a deaf woman. Perpetrators of horrendous crimes such as these do not belong in our communities, and Action Society will fight till justice is served,” concluded Palm.
