Content warning – there are graphic descriptions of violence and murder below…

In August of last year, the murder and rape of UCT student Uyinene Mrwetyana, along with Jesse Hess and Leighandre Jegels, shocked the nation into action.

South Africans took to the streets and said #EnoughIsEnough, whilst at the same time asking #AmINext?

Sadly, marches and government promises don’t always result in meaningful change, and this week has once again shown us how women, girls, transgendered, and gender-nonconforming people spend every day living in fear as these rights are threatened, violated, and in some cases, taken away completely.

Let’s start with Tshegofatso Pule (pictured above), who was eight months pregnant when she was found hanging from a tree in an open veld in Roodepoort on Monday.

According to TimesLIVE, who spoke with SAPS spokesperson Captain Kay Makhubela, she had a stab wound to her chest.

More details from Sunday World:

Pule, 28, allegedly went missing last week Thursday, and that was the last time her family saw her alive.

Speaking to the media outside Pule’s home in Soweto, Tumisang Katake, said his niece left on Thursday to meet with her boyfriend, who stays in Florida lake, to go buy clothes for her unborn baby.

That was the last time her family saw her alive. Her baby shower had already been organised for June 27.

Pule’s boyfriend has been spoken to by police, who say they are investigating a case of murder, and no arrests have yet been made.

This past Saturday, 25-year-old Naledi Phangindawo (below) was attending a function, when her life was also cut short in a brutal attack.

Here’s Southern Cape police spokesperson Capt Malcolm Pojie speaking with TimesLIVE:

“Preliminary investigations reveal the victim attended a cultural function at a residence in KwaNonqaba on Saturday evening when she was called outside, where the suspect was waiting to speak to her.

“Eyewitness reports allege the suspect attacked the victim with sharp objects, described as a knife and an axe, without any warning.

“She was hacked all over her body and face,” Pojie said.

Phangindawo was taken to hospital, but declared dead upon arrival. She leaves behind three children, the oldest of which is six.

A 34-year-old man handed himself over to police on Sunday evening, and will appear this week on charges of murder.

Time and time again, we see these stories in the news. Time and time again, as a nation, we are disgusted, but the killing continues.

If you aren’t angry, you aren’t paying attention. When will the killing stop?

As Malaika Mahlatsi points out in a column for the Sowetan, we are in the midst of a pandemic, and still, it goes on:

We wonder every day whether we are going to be raped and killed in taxis that are now loading fewer passengers.

For us, fewer passengers don’t mean safe distancing, it means less people for the driver to drop off – which means a greater probability that we could be alone with him in the taxi.

We wonder every day if we are safe in our offices because the less colleagues there are, the less potential witnesses there could be should we somehow vanish and be found stuffed under our work desks.

We wonder and we are anxious because the scenarios are not imaginary, they have happened before, and they continue to happen.

We know the names of Tshegofatso and Naledi because they are the ones making headlines.

However, the reality of the situation is that there are many other women who have, since the beginning of the lockdown, been killed and assaulted by men.

According to the minister of police, Gen Bheki Cele, more than 87,000 gender-based violence complaints were reported in the country in 2019.

May I ask kindly, gentlemen, that you spare us at least until we get through the Covid-19 pandemic? Can you, just for now, cease fire and allow us to live?

This is the lived reality of so many people in this country, and a vaccine, or proper hygiene protocols, or face masks, isn’t going to make it go away.

By all means, be angry about not being able to buy cigarettes, be angry about businesses that aren’t allowed to operate under alert level 3 and are struggling to stay afloat, and be angry about the multitude of other injustices that affect your daily life.

But also, remember what it felt like when we took to the streets last year, asking our government to hear our voices, and asking men to do better, and use that energy to keep the pressure on those who can affect change to do so.

Tshegofatso Pule and Naledi Phangindawo are two of the latest names, and they won’t be the last.

[sources:timeslive&sundayworld&timeslive&sowetan]