SURVIVING at least 20 stab wounds, a 43-year-old eSikhaleni woman had to be brave one more time by facing her attacker at the eSikhawini Magistrate’s Court last week.
She was attacked by her former boyfriend Skara Mpanza (30) in December and allegedly stabbed 20 times following an argument about the victim’s car.
In an emotional interview with the Zululand Observer, the victim said the argument started when she questioned Mpanza about changing her car’s ownership without her consent.
‘He started hitting me in the car and it became worse. He than stabbed and dumped me in the sugarcane field and left me to to die,’ she said.
‘I sustained several wounds on my back, neck and head,’
She was found unconscious the following day by residents walking past the field near eCubhu Dam outside eSikhaleni.
They called an ambulance and a case was opened at eSikhawini police station.
She spent over a month at Ngwelezane Hospital and was treated for a punctured lung and wounds on her spleen.
Mpanza was arrested and charged with attempted murder and released on R1 000 bail the following day.
On Wednesday morning the victim courageously sat behind the man she once loved, but this time, unlike that traumatic night, she had the support of the local community.
Community members and leaders, including City of uMhlathuze Deputy Mayor Vera Gumbi, packed the hall and rallied outside the court gates.
‘We are against abuse of women and children. Today as the community we stand together to say enough is enough. No one has the right to abuse anyone,’ said ANC Mandela Branch Secretary, Thandanani Mlenze Vundla.
The case was postponed to 4 April and Mpanza’s bail was extended until his next court appearance.
