“Senzeni na? What have we done?” This is a song I often find myself singing in the office, much to the amusement of my colleagues. Here I am, a woman in South Africa today, writing this and find myself singing it yet again.
But this time these lyrics hold so much pain and heartache. I am singing this song on behalf of yet another woman who was murdered in our beloved country.
According to police, Olorato Mongale left her home in Athol, Johannesburg on Sunday 25 May with a man she had planned to go out on a date with.
“The man collected Olorato from her residential complex around 15:00,” read the police report. “He drove the victim to the township of Alexandra, proceeded to Kew afterwards, and between Alexandra and Lombardy West allegedly murdered Olorato and dumped her body.”
She was picked up from her home. Just two hours later, she was dumped somewhere as if her life meant nothing. Her only crime was trusting the person she got into the vehicle with.
This incident, as horrific as it is, is not an isolated case.
Olorato isn’t the first. Her name unfortunately joins a long-bloodied list. So many others have been killed, some raped, then killed and others burnt to death, all at the hands of someone they knew and trusted.
Some went to school, some went to the post office, some never even left their homes, some were lured outside. Some were asked out on a date. Once-vibrant and -bubbling personalities have been silenced.
To the perpetrators of these heinous crimes I ask, “Senzeni na?” What have we (women) done?”
Why can’t we trust you? Why do we have to wear certain attire so we don’t look as if we want to be sexually assaulted? Why can’t we drive or walk the street alone not only at night, but at any time of the day?
Women for Change (WFC), an organisation advocating against gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF), says the rate of femicide in South Africa is six times higher than the global average. At least 15 women are murdered daily, with 5 578 women murdered in 2023-’24, a 33,8% increase from the year before.
As women we are being brutalised and our constitutional rights violated, yet not much is being done to mitigate this.
Women brave enough to report such crimes committed towards them at police stations have, in many instances, been treated like the perpetrator.
Mounting calls for the names of sexual offenders and murderers to be released should be adhered to.
Name and shame them. It should be their names up on a flyer, not the face of a missing woman or child.
To the thousands of women and girls who have brutally lost their lives I am sorry. Sorry your lives were cut short by these callous monsters. Sorry your school, home, the post office, the street, even the police station was not safe.
Your voices have been silenced, but may your cries from six feet under echo through the corridors of the Union Buildings and Parliament. I pray our political leaders refrain from making lengthy speeches about how they are making strides in the fight against GBV and femicide and do the work.
Until then my question remains: “Senzeni na?” What have we (women) done?”
