Eastern Cape police are investigating a murder after the body of a woman believed to be in her 20s was found with injuries to her throat and leg in Qonce on Monday morning.The woman's body was discovered near the entrance to Club View on Joubert Street at about 8am by a security guard on his way to work.
The discovery has again highlighted concerns about gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF) in the Eastern Cape.Police spokesperson Capt Mluleki Mbi confirmed that a murder investigation had been opened."We can confirm that police are investigating a murder docket following the discovery of the body of a woman in her 20s," Mbi said."The deceased's body was discovered by a passing security guard who was on his way to work this morning at about 8am at Joubert Street, Qonce."She was found with injuries on her leg and throat. There has been no arrest at this stage," Mbi said.Security guard Chumani Ntebe, who discovered the body while travelling his usual route from Zwelitsha to Bhisho along the N2, said he had been alerted by a passerby.Speaking to the Dispatch, Ntebe said a man had stopped him and reported that a child was lying dead nearby. The man told him he had been unable to call for help because he had no airtime.Ntebe went to investigate and immediately alerted the authorities."The young lady was not dressed from the bottom up."She was only wearing a red T-shirt on top," Ntebe said.He described the discovery as deeply "scary and alarming".As a father and brother, Ntebe said he felt a personal responsibility to help, particularly as others appeared to ignore the situation and continued on their way.Women's rights activist and Masimanyane Women's Rights International founder Dr Lesley Foster said the killing left her deeply saddened, but not surprised.She extended her condolences to the woman's family, saying such killings had become so frequent that society was no longer shocked by them."Femicide has tragically become a normalised crime in South African communities," Foster said.She said young women were particularly vulnerable, drawing parallels with recent brutal killings in Kempton Park, Ekurhuleni.Foster attributed violence against women to deeply entrenched attitudes of male entitlement and the belief that men had ownership over women's bodies."Women carry a low status in our society, and this is expressed through these killings."They simply do not think that women's lives really matter," she said.She condemned the tendency to blame victims, saying communities often focused on how women dressed or where they went rather than confronting the behaviour of violent men."Nobody is talking about men and the responsibility they hold for these murders," Foster said.She said responsibility extended beyond the perpetrators to men who remained silent when confronted with misogynistic attitudes and behaviour."We cannot expect women to police men when it is male violence that is killing young women."Foster called for a fundamental shift in societal attitudes to confront misogyny and the everyday disrespect experienced by women.She recounted a recent experience at a sports club where a male bartender had treated her and a lawyer colleague "like dirt" after they made a simple customer request.She said such incidents reflected broader attitudes towards women that needed to change.Foster also linked the GBVF crisis to government corruption, arguing that the diversion of public funds undermined social development programmes intended to educate communities and address harmful attitudes.She urged South Africans to confront corruption at every level, saying a safer society for women required both accountability and a fundamental change in attitudes.