Woman found murdered in Gugulethu was 24-year-old mother of two

The woman whose body was found dumped and beaten next to a primary school in Gugulethu on Friday was a 24-year-old mother of two children, says Ilitha Labantu spokesperson Siyabulela Monakali.

He said the activist group and her grieving family were holding off on releasing her name for now.

This was to allow the police to do their work in investigating who had dumped her body next to a rubble-strewn path at the end of a cul-de-suc.

“The family are still quite traumatised by the incident,” said Monakali.

Before she was murdered, the woman had lived in Langa, Cape Town.

Her body was found on Friday morning, and had apparently been covered with hard objects, including a concrete slab.

“They threw things at her, seemingly to hide her identity,” said Monakali.

The place where she was found had been covered by sand to hide the blood stains when the ANC Women’s League stood at the site and said prayers during a picket in the area on Monday.

It was also about 500m away from a cemetery.

Ilitha Labantu held a prayer meeting, to keep awareness going, at a gathering outside parliament on Tuesday.

A delegation, which included clergy, visited the murdered woman’s family afterwards.

Ilitha Labantu would help them with counselling and support.

Monakali said her family had been to identify her body on Tuesday.

The woman was murdered during the #AmINext protests to call for urgent action to protect women after the murders of women like Uyinene Mrwetyana at a Post Office, Jesse Hess in her flat with her grandfather, and Lynette Volschenk from Bellville whose body was also chopped up.

During the protests, there were calls for a national state of emergency over violence against women, and that the death penalty should be reinstated.

Dr Olive Shisana, chair of a special task team on gender-based violence, told reporters on the sidelines of the protests that work on a new strategy was in its final stages.

During those protests which occurred during the World Economic Forum on Africa meeting in Cape Town, police fired stun grenades and used water cannons to disperse protesters in the CBD.

The police were asked for an update on the investigation into the woman dumped in Gugulethu and it will be added when received.

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