Civil rights movement #NotInMyName said it is repelled by law enforcement officers' involvement in gender-based violence femicide (GBVF) cases.
A 34-year-old police officer,, Constable Lucky Sandile Mabunda stationed at Hazyview POP was arrested for stabbing and killing his 28-year-old wife, Nonkululeko Mtsweni, multiple times with a beer bottle in her face and chest.
In the process, he also stabbed 27-year-old Veronicah Sithole in her neck, at Zethu Bar Lounge. Mpumalanga SAPS confirmed that the officer faces murder and attempted murder charges.
According to police, they received a call from Zethu Bar Lounge where it was reported that a couple were fighting, and seemingly one of them had been stabbed.
Officers who responded were shown a female who was lying next to a pool of blood with a stab wound on her neck, and there were pieces of broken beer bottles next to her. They were also shown another black female who was lying on the back seat of a Double cab bakkie, motionless also with stab wounds on her face and chest, and were informed that she had died.
The police say that an officer who went to the scene was also shown a black male who identified himself as constable Lucky Sandile Masina, who was also bleeding on his right hand, and informed him that he is the husband of the deceased Mtshweni. He said he is the one who stabbed both the women with the beer bottle after he had an argument with his wife, and the injured victim was stabbed while trying to intervene to separate them.
The injured victim was then transported to Barberton General Hospital.
In another GBVF incident, a 42-year-old correctional services official and his wife are each out on R2 000 bail after the main allegedly raped his wife's 14-year-old daughter while she held her down.
“NOTINMYNAME is disturbed by the mental health of law enforcement officers. These two cases are among a number of violent incidents involving law enforcement officers over the past year. Its own union, the South African Police Union, is calling for access to mental health services because of the dangerous and rapid decline in their optimal functioning,” said the movement’s spokesperson, Mo Senne.
She said be it that as it may, it is important to exercise the law and ensure that victims receive justice.
“While we concede that psychiatrists and psychologists need to be deployed, we contend that the proposition only serves as a preventive measure. It does not address the aftermath of the heinous crimes.
“As such, #NOTINMYNAME asserts that it is in the interests of justice and community safety to deny Nonkululeko's murderer bail. He must be detained for the remainder of the investigations,” Senne said.
The matter has been postponed to October 11.