Activist says selective sympathy undermines fight against GBV

Feminist and human rights activist, Lebo Ramafoko, says the reaction to Olorato Mongale’s murder has exposed society’s bias towards victims of Gender-Based Violence (GBV).

Ramafoko says the remarks that she was a slay queen by some South Africans after it emerged that she was killed while on a date with a potential suitor, shows how society believes that certain people deserve sympathy while others don’t – something she feels is a deterrent to eradicating the scourge of GBV in South Africa.

She says this kind of thinking reinforces harmful stereotypes, as if the murder of a slay queen is justified.

Ramafoko has bemoaned the public’s tendency to view gender-based violence through a narrow, moralistic lens.

She says society often chooses to look in a very proverbial way by filtering empathy through personal biases.

“What was the person wearing?, who is this woman, what were they doing?. That is why when we know very little about a murder case, the family will have to contend with people saying she was a slay queen, as if it’s okay to kill a slay queen.”

Ramafoko says until we confront the judgmental attitude and the dehumanisation of victims based on lifestyle, appearance and social status, the fight is far from over.

Police in KZN have shot and killed the main suspect in the murder case, Philangenkosi Makhanya.

He was found hiding at a flat in Amanzimtoti, where a shootout ensued when the deceased allegedly opened fire at the police.

KZN Police Commissioner, General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, says the deceased confessed to the owner of the hideout flat that he killed Olorato.

Mkhwanazi also revealed that the deceased was also found in possession of more than 20 cellphones and IDs.

He added that the deceased also tried to commit suicide.

The search for the two other suspects involved in Olorato’s murder case continues.

The 30-year-old Mongale will be laid to rest on Sunday in Bloemfontein, in the Free State.