It is a shame to note that the perpetrators of the violence are the same people who promise them love, respect and honour.
Mpumalanga News has since been inundated with calls, by women who are fed up with the treatment they get from the men who promise them dreams, but give them nightmares instead.
A woman of Siyabuswa, has recently come through to narrate her story, about the abuse she has encountered from a man she trusted.
“I was involved with a renowned businessman in the area, he’s one of the people who’s voices are heard in the community. He is considered as a man who fights for the rights of women, an activist, a person who even goes to church, and has a louder voice there.
But, he abused me behind closed doors. I had to keep the abuse to myself so he could keep his reputation,” said the victim who was known to this publication.
According to her, the abuse went from emotional, to physical, and escalated to a point where she could not take it anymore.
She did the honourable thing, and took the matter to the police, but her circumstances forced her to drop the case.
“I couldn’t take it any longer, and I reported the matter to the police, but his lawyers offered me money to drop the case. I needed the money; he knew that very well, hence the offer.
I became just another statistic in the process I can truly attest that it’s never a nice position to find yourself in,” she added.
According to this woman, she was also harassed by the recent girlfriend of the man in question.
“She started calling me to insult and call me names. I also picked up that she was told my most delicate secrets, those that I have shared with him, because I trusted him. I felt so betrayed, I don’t mind the break-up, but didn’t expect him to use my secrets as pillow-talk topics.”
In a similar incident, a woman of Lekazi, also called in about a local prominent figure in Mbombela, who had recently appeared in court, as a witness over two women fighting for him.
“This man works for a government department, he is a motivational speaker, a man who has a lot of people regarding him as a role model, yet he is very abusive behind closed doors,” said
the woman.
Asked what her relation to this man was, the woman said, “He and my aunt have been dating for the past five years. My aunt discovered that he was seeing someone else and she went to confront the woman, who then opened a case of harassment against my aunt.”
This is just the tip of the iceberg of how women are taken advantage of, and exploited by the men who are supposed to love and protect them.
It seems the country still has a long way to go in trying to redress the imbalances in terms of gender altogether.
