Man accused of gouging ex-girlfriend’s eyes with screwdriver denied bail as Mchunu condemns incident

Warning: This article contains graphic content that may be disturbing to some readers.

Police Minister Senzo Mchunu has condemned violence against women after a 36-year-old man accused of attacking his ex-girlfriend was denied bail.

Zenzele Xaba appeared at the Richmond Magistrate’s Court, KwaZulu-Natal, on Tuesday for his formal bail application.

He is facing charges of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm (GBH) and attempted murder.

The charges stem from an incident on 16 April, when Xaba allegedly attacked his former girlfriend and her mother at their home in the Maswazini area of Richmond.

The suspect allegedly first assaulted the mother before violently attacking the young woman by gouging both of her eyes with a screwdriver.

The young woman is currently receiving medical treatment at Harry Gwala District Hospital.

Mchunu condemns GBV attack

Speaking to the media before the bail verdict, Mchunu said the attack followed a dispute between Xaba and his former partner.

“When the mother intervened, he attacked the mother viciously, and when the ex-girlfriend went out from her bedroom to the lounge to assist her mother, she was brutally [attacked] … he even used a screwdriver, attacking her [in] both eyes,” he said.

“It is said that her eyes bled very badly. They are bad, but she’s being attended to,” Mchunu remarked.

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The minister said the incident was completely unjustified.

“There was absolutely no reason on earth for that young man to attack that young lady just because she had said ‘I no longer like you or I no longer love you’, which is her full right,” he said.

Mchunu praised the community for assisting police with the arrest and condemned the “sheer brutality” of the incident.

“He attacked this woman in her own home, and that means… he has no bounds. He doesn’t deserve to be free.”

Broader GBV crisis

Mchunu said the incident highlighted the scourge of gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF) in South Africa.

“Anyone who calls himself a man of whatever age who attacks a woman for whatever reason, in whatever way, whether with bare hands, fists or foot or whatever, doesn’t deserve to be called a man.

“He belongs in jail. He doesn’t belong to our community, and when people are saying they are tired, I believe they mean it.”

The minister indicated that the Justice, Crime Prevention, and Security (JCPS) cluster has reviewed the government’s framework for addressing GBVF.

“We now have reviewed the framework that we’ve been using all the time because it has been effective, but not to the [necessary] extent [because] there is an outcry about [GBV] in the whole country.

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“Some say the president should declare a state of emergency about it.”

He further emphasised the importance of collaboration in tackling this issue.

“The proportions, the extent, and even some of these incidents, they are so ugly, so painful that they really are unacceptable, and therefore, the collaboration on the ground between all the law enforcement and the community is the best way of doing this,” Mchunu said.

“We have to play our role as well as the justice and safety cluster and make sure that we tighten all the loose ends.”

The victim’s mother told eNCA she was relieved by the court’s decision to deny bail.

She stated that she would have feared for her family’s lives if the accused had been released.

She also expressed cautious optimism about her daughter’s recovery, saying the young woman had regained vision in one eye.

Mchunu comments on Cwecwe rape case

Meanwhile, Minister Mchunu also addressed the case involving a seven-year-old girl named Cwecwe, who was allegedly raped at her school, Bergview College, in Matatiele, Eastern Cape, in October 2024.

Public anger escalated last month after the girl’s mother came forward to criticise the slow progress of the investigation.

Although DNA samples were taken from individuals of interest, no foreign DNA was found on the child’s clothing and, therefore, no suspect has been identified.

Providing an update, Mchunu said the case was at an “advanced stage”.

“You remember that we did say that the matter is quite complex. It has got various aspects.”

He also addressed an earlier misstatement involving the school’s principal, who had been wrongfully linked to rape incident.

“It was an error which got committed in the course of duty unintentionally, as it would be, and we felt it was responsible to say sorry to the principal,” Mchunu told the media.

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