Don’t give up fight against GBV, urges Uyinene Mrwetyana foundation

The Uyinene Mrwetyana Foundation is calling on society at large and civic organisations not to give up on the fight against gender-based violence (GBV), despite the growing numbers of reported incidents of the scourge.

The Foundation, together with UCT and other NGOs marched to parliament in Cape Town on Saturday as they commemorated the fifth anniversary of Uyinene’s death.

The 19-year-old UCT student was raped and murdered by a post office worker in 2019 when she went to collect her parcel.

The killer Luyanda Botha was sentenced to three life terms.

The Uyinene Mrwetyana Foundation’s Managing Director Thobeka Msengana says there’s value in the work done by the civic organisation.

“We’ve seen this year with the president when there were GBV amendments that were made and very important in terms of the prosecution of GBV cases, those are positive things that could not have been implemented without the pressure that civic organisations put on the government. We also see a lot of reports in terms of what happens on the ground. So what organisations do is they look at. For example, how people are treated when they report to SAPS and what needs to be implemented. I think there’s a lot of value in terms of the work that civic organisations do in fighting the scourge of GBV.”