The Eastern Cape is among three provinces in the country where thousands of underage girls continue to be victims of forced marriages, Gender Equality commissioner Nomsisi Bata revealed yesterday.
Bata, who is from the Eastern Cape, said among the recent cases handled by the Commission on Gender Equality (CGE) was that of a 14-year-old from Dutywa who was abducted and taken to Mvezo in December where she was expected to sleep with a mineworker in his late 40s. She refused.
“We say thanks to the courage of this young girl, who remained seated in a chair for five days and refused to sleep with a man her father’s age. Thanks to the police, the Khula Trust and CGE, she was rescued and now lives with relatives in Klerksdorp,” said Bata.
This is one of many cases now part of the statistics that place South Africa as one of the problem areas when it comes to forced marriages of children.
In a report compiled by Statistics SA based on its Community Survey, it was revealed that in 2016 more than 91000 South African girls between the ages of 12 and 17 were married, divorced, separated, widowed or living with a partner.
Topping the list of abducted girls was KwaZulu-Natal with more than 25205 “victims” while more than 10000 young girls who got married in the same year were from the Eastern Cape. Gauteng had 15929 similar cases.
The practice called ukuthwala is a form of abduction that involves kidnapping a young woman by a man and his friends or peers with the intention of compelling her family to endorse marriage negotiations.
Bata said similar ukuthwala cases were reported in Mpumulanga, where two sisters were rescued last year after a 64-year-old man, who has since died, paid lobola to their parents.
“I don’t know the amount they paid for the Mpumalanga case, but in the Dutywa case, which is now in court, police discovered that R7000 was paid to the parents as lobola.
“That is shocking,” said Bata.She said ukuthwala was back on parliament’s agenda as both provinces and the National Assembly are to host a number of events as part of the Commonwealth Women’s Parliamentary Association.
In the Eastern Cape, an event was hosted in the Alfred Nzo region two weeks ago.
CGE spokesman Javu Baloyi said in the Eastern Cape, incidents of minors being forced into marriage were prevalent in areas such as Lusikisiki.
He said these marriages saw girls under 18 being “abducted, committed or forced into marriage in violation of their Constitutional rights”.
Baloyi said: “We have worked with traditional leaders, particularly in the Lusikisiki area, to help stop the scourge that was going on unabated. Lots of young girls were saved through this intervention.
“In KwaZulu-Natal the commission, together with the National Prosecution Authority, the South African Police Services and the department of social development have worked together to help plenty of young girls from being married off.”
He made reference to the case of a 32-year-old man who was found guilty of abducting a 14-year-old girl from Ngcobo.
“In the case of Mvumeleni Jezile vs the State – a widely reported case, [Jezile] was sentenced in 2011 in the Wynberg Regional Court to an effective 22 years in jail for three counts of rape, human trafficking and assault.
“The CGE was amicus curiae [friend of the court] in the case,” said Baloyi.
“Underage marriages are illegal and it is incumbent upon all of us as citizenry to ensure that we end them,” he added.
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