August is Women’s Month but violence against women in SA is out of control.
There certainly doesn’t feel like much to celebrate.
On Monday, August 3, the bodies of teenagers Ethan Coetzee, 19, and St Stithians College pupil Cameron Waldeck-Cooks, 17, were found in a room at a guest lodge in Mpumalanga.
While police initially opened an inquest docket, results from a post-mortem suggested Cameron had been strangled while Ethan allegedly took his own life.
Cameron’s father, Derrick Cooks, said she had travelled to Sabie for a hiking trip as part of her preparation for the Gold level of The President’s Award for Youth Empowerment.
“She was invited to join two families on a hiking trip in Sabie, Mpumalanga; she saw it as an opportunity to work towards that goal,” he said.
There have been reports that Ethan and Cameron were in a relationship and that he was allegedly “controlling” and “jealous”.
Imagine sending your teenage daughter on a trip with trusted friends only to get the devastating news that she was found murdered, allegedly by someone close to her.
To lose a child is a parent’s worst nightmare and now both families’ lives are ruined because of an act of violence.
More often than not in cases of femicide, women are killed by men who they know and trust.
Cameron’s killing is just one case that has made headlines recently.
Gender-based violence in SA is a crisis of epic proportions and the government needs to redouble its efforts to curb it.
The Herald recently published a story about 15 young people from Bloemendal and surrounding communities who completed an intensive three-day gender-based violence “train the trainer” programme hosted by Unisa.
Held as part of the Bloemendal My Plek community initiative, the programme focused on self-care, support, GBV awareness and practical tools that the participants could take back to their communities.
Unisa’s regional manager in the Eastern Cape, Raseela Daya, highlighted the university’s social responsibility ethos and its commitment to working with communities.
“Unisa has a responsibility to uplift communities. GBV and femicide is a societal challenge that affects us all.”
We applaud the university for taking the initiative to make a difference in our communities and hope that other institutions follow suit.
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