On Friday morning, Port Elizabeth mother Zaida was buried, her infant son on her chest.
Just days before, the eight-months pregnant attorney’s baby boy, named Abdul Mazief after his grandfather, was safely enveloped in her womb.
That is until her husband of a little more than a year, Rezaan Fondling, allegedly attacked her on the side of the road near the Gamtoos River Bridge, stabbing and beating her until she died.
“She was a soft and gentle soul,” her mother, Moefeeda Samodien, 66, told The Herald this week.
“She never had a bad word to say about anyone.
“No-one deserves to die like this, least of all her. We buried her, with her son on her chest.”
Fondling has been arrested and has already appeared in court. The case was postponed to January 7 for further investigation and for Fondling to instruct his attorney.
Samodien was not the only pregnant woman murdered at the weekend, also allegedly by her partner.
About 1,000km away in the North West, a 27-year-old woman — seven months pregnant — was fatally stabbed outside her mother’s house.
Her 34-year-old boyfriend was arrested and was due to appear in the Schweizer-Reneke magistrate’s court.
So this is where we are now.
Court trials, possibly lengthy ones, will follow and the victims’ loved ones — if they choose to attend the cases — will most likely hear the gruesome detail of how the two mothers-to-be were killed.
Based on evidence, the men will be found either guilty or not guilty.
But then what?
We can guarantee that in the time their court processes are under way, more women in SA would have died at their hands of the partners, and will continue to die.
It’s a scourge that just does not seem to have an end in sight.
Police minister Bheki Cele, on a visit to Port Elizabeth on Wednesday to launch the Safer Festive Season, spoke about violence against women and children.
“Women must get away from abusive men. If he puts a hand on you now, next time it’s a gun. Tell people when you are being abused. It’s not embarrassing. What is embarrassing is to let abuse continue.”
While we agree that this is not a situation for women to be ashamed of, the reality in SA is that it is not easy to leave abusive relationships.
So instead of expecting women to leave, let us build a nation of men who respect — not abuse — women.
HeraldLIVE