‘SA struggling to overcome the burden of race and class’

The brutal killing of two women, Kudzai Ndlovu and Maria Makgatho allegedly by white farmers in Limpopo before feeding them to pigs, has sent shockwaves and sparked debate about the impact of the residue of apartheid.

The husband to one of the women fled the scene and survived the shooting.

It is alleged that the trio had visited the farm, looking for expired food to harvest when they were met by a hail of bullets.

The women’s charred remains were found in the pigsty on the farm.

Save South Africa Civic Movement has called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to re-open the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) to deal with the growing acts of racism in the country.

The commission was set up in 1996 and chaired by Archbishop Desmond Tutu to deal with the atrocities of apartheid.

The civil rights movement says the reopening of the TRC will give new direction.

The organisation’s Tebogo Mashilompane says TRC failed to address issues of racism that the country now finds itself in.

“Save South Africa Civic Movement would like to state in clear terms that the whites are not ready to live in harmony with blacks in the very land of the blacks. Black people have been so accommodating and the white Afrikaners have taken advantage of that.”

Mashilompane says only blacks uphold the principle of a rainbow nation, while whites continue with their white supremacy agenda.

“Furthermore, we warn all the racists that it is just a matter of time before the black South Africans, disregard the deals made during Codesa, and begin to pave a new direction for a future that will be beneficial to the black people of this country. We are warning you, racists!”

Minister in the Presidency for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, Sindisiwe Chikunga, has conceded that South Africa is struggling to overcome the burden of race and class inherited during the periods of colonialism and apartheid.

She says women in rural, remote and severely underprivileged areas remain one of the most vulnerable groups to violence.

“Violence against women has reached alarming proportions in South Africa and it affects all women in this country. It is time that attention is given to the extent of the vulnerability of rural women and women living on farmlands to have access to the justice system.”

Chikunga says action has never been more urgent in reducing inequality in society.

The farmer and his workers are expected back in court tomorrow.

They face charges of murder, attempted murder, possession of an unlicensed firearm and defeating the ends of justice.

The MK Party says it will monitor court proceedings and mobilise society at large to expropriate the land of the farmers upon conviction.

They’ve slammed the senseless killing of women during Women’s Month.

“We note with disgust the silence of the often-loud Afriforum, which is a paragon of white supremacy and an extension of the lawless anti-black racist apartheid system.”