A Hillshaven woman who has allegedly been manhandled by two drunk men said no woman deserves to be treated the way she had been treated.
Oyama Molale, 32, who said she was shocked to have been met such anger and violence from the two unknown men, said the incident left her in fear and paranoid.
She has to take medication to cope with the trauma. The teacher and mother of two said that on Tuesday afternoon, 25 August while she was driving home, a white school taxi that was driving behind her stopped on the side of the road. After what seemed like a minute, the same taxi was driving behind her; pushing towards the rear of her vehicle.
I didn’t really understand what was going on, because if the driver was in a hurry he would’ve easily overtaken me. But he kept pushing on behind me.” She added that she ignored the driver.
Molale said things got heated when she arrived at a boom gate at the entrance of her residential area as she found herself side by side with the same taxi.
“The taxi was at the visitors’ gate, while I was at the residents’ gate,” she said. At that point the driver and his male friend in the passenger seat hurled insults at her, calling her a b***ch and scolding her for her ‘poor’ driving. Still, Molale chose not to respond, and drove off. In the residential area the taxi quickly drove past her and blocked her car, and the two men jumped out of the taxi. One of them banged on her car’s bonnet, eventually pulling the keys out of the ignition.
“He also pulled me by my my sweater’s polo neck, and pushed his finger onto my forehead, saying they wanted to teach me a lesson.”
She said while all this was unfolding, schoolchildren in the taxi – some of whom are in her class – were screaming in terror as they were also shocked and terrified. A female traffic officer tried to intervene, helped by calling the police, and refused to let the taxi leave.
They intimidated her too. Only when the security guards came and more community members started gathering I got my keys back,” she said. Molale said the manner in which the police handled the whole situation was poor.
She said the driver continued to make threats even in front of the police, without anyone of them reprimanding him. “It is disgusting, because I had to tell them how to do their job properly. I even had to tell them to take tests, as the men clearly were drunk. They could not stands still,” Molale complained.
She said she does not only speak about the incident for her own sake, but for many women out there who are bullied and abused, and cower away as they have no voice. “I want them to know that that is no way to treat women,” Molale added.
Sergeant Audrey Sefara, the Westonaria Police spokesperson, who confirmed that the case had been opened, said the police are waiting for the blood tests of the suspects. “A case of drunken driving, common assault and intimidation against the two was opened, and they are currently out on bail,” Sefara said.
