Kloof grandmother’s murder trial postponed again

THE 57-year-old man who has been charged for the alleged murder of 55-year-old Kloof grandmother, Jenny King, was back in the Pinetown Magistrate’s court for a brief appearance, this morning.

Charles Ridgway was granted bail of R2 000 days after he presented himself to police at Hillcrest SAPS the week following the death of the woman who had been his girlfriend.

While he made his court appearance this morning, people outside the court precinct gathered to protest against gender-based violence (GBV) and femicide.

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The silent protest, which included all necessary Covid-19 precautions, took place on the pavement outside the court.

Two-larger-than-life cut-outs of a female figure was covered with the names of women who have died in cases related to GBV and femicide.

Postponed

The case has been postponed to 21 September when it is expected a decision will be made about whether the case will remain in the Pinetown Magistrate’s Court or be heard in the Durban High Court.

Another case involving a woman, Janet Scott, 54, who died, allegedly at the hands of her intimate partner, former jockey, Graham Gregorowski, is expected to resume at the Durban High Court on 21 September.

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Scott was found dead in Gregorowski’s bed in a cottage in Shongweni on the morning of October 15, 2016.

Crime stats

Jenny’s killing, which took place 18 months ago, happened too long ago to form part of the statistics Police Minister, General Bheki Cele, will release on Friday, 31 July 2020.

Tomorrows crime stats will reflect crimes which occurred from 1 April, 2019 to the end of March this year.

However, Jenny’s death was counted among the 21 022 murders recorded for the year ending March 2019.

In 2018, at the launch of Gender-based Violence and Femicide Summit in November, President Cyril Ramaphosa called for an end to high numbers of attacks on women citing data from WHO in 2016 which showed that rate of femicide in the country to be 12.1 per 100 000.

“This was almost five times higher than the global average of 2.6 per 100,000, ” said Ramaphosa.

“According to the SAPS Crime Statistics report of 2018, femicide increased by 11 per cent over the last two years.”

“We are aiming for a femicide rate of zero per 100,000.  We want to reach a point where no woman, child or man has to experience the violence, violation and trauma of rape.  There is no acceptable level of gender-based violence.  We want to eradicate it,” said the President.

Lee-Anne King, Jenny’s daughter who discovered her body in January 2019, said she was grateful for the support she and the family had received at the court.

As a survivor of domestic violence, King said she will not rest until something is done to change the law so that victims can get the help they need to make a change and expressed how pleased she was with the gains which have been made in the past year.