‘Set free our Lion Mama!'

Hundreds of community members turned up at the local magistrate’s court in Mount Fletcher on Monday in support of a woman charged with murdering a suspected intruder.

The incident occurred in the woman’s Mount Fletcher home on Sunday.

While no mention was made in court of rape allegations, or that there were a number of small children in the house at the time of the incident, these rumours were widely aired by angry protesters.

The murder of the 46-year-old man allegedly by a 33-year-old mother of three on Sunday, was trending on social media with many comparing the incident with that of the “Lion Mama” of Cacadu.

In December, two rapists caught in the act of raping “Lion Mama’s” daughter in September 2017 and who were stabbed by the mother of their victim were sentenced to 30 years in prison.

“Lion Mama” killed a third rapist, Zamile Siyeka, when she found the gang raping her child. The NPA decided not to press charges against her.

On Monday, Legal Aid attorney Hlanga Mondliwa, appearing in front of Mount Fletcher magistrate Joseph Serfontein in connection with Sunday’s incident, said in an affidavit that the accused woman would plead not guilty to murder.

The accused had no previous convictions and worked as a cashier at a national chain store in Mount Fletcher.

NPA prosecutor Tshepo Sekhosana said the state would not oppose bail and that the accused was co-operating.

Serfontein granted the accused woman R1,000 bail and postponed the matter to May 7 for further investigation.

The media were asked not to take pictures of the accused.

In a press statement, released on Monday, SAPS Captain Raphael Motloung, said: “Mount Fletcher police have arrested a woman for killing a man in self-defence.”

He said it was alleged the suspect had been asleep when a man entered her house at midnight on Sunday. There had been a knock and the door was opened by force.

“Someone came into the house and it was dark inside. It is alleged the woman jumped out of bed and went straight to the door and pushed the figure/person outside.

“She took a stone/facebrick and hit him hard in the face with it in self- defence.

“At the same time, the [intruder] tried to assault her as well and later [the intruder] fell down and became unconscious in front of the house, where he had fallen.”

The man was rushed in a private vehicle to the hospital where he died, said Motloung.

Eastern Cape police spokesperson Captain Khaya Tonjeni said the incident occurred at Dangwane in Mount Fletcher.

Men and women, many in ANC regalia, travelled from all areas of Joe Gqabi district to court hailing the woman a hero. They said they were fed up with women being abused and raped in the district in the past few years.

Placards held aloft read: “Free Bail”, “You are a women’s hero”, and “[She] is the victim”.

Joe Gqabi ANC Women's League district chairperson Nomvuyo Mphoselwa and Sanco Joe Gqabi regional co-ordinator Lubabalo Mantame led the march to the court and spoke out strongly against women and child abuse.

Mphoselwa said they were fed up with rapists who had forced women to flee the area in terror. Some women went to bed armed with guns and pangas to defend themselves.

Mphoselwa and Mantame said while they did not encourage people taking law into their own hands, if rapists and would-be murderers were killed in the act of committing these crimes, then these killings were justified if they had been in self-defence.

The pair added that the victims of these crimes had “split seconds to decide either to succumb to the demands of the attacker or wage an attack in self-defence”.

Women were deciding to defend themselves and their young children.

They said: ''What would you do if someone came into your home at night, and demanded that you take off your clothes…and you have young children around too?

“Do you wait for the intruder to rape you and and your children and kill all of you before you take an action? No. If you have the strength, you use everything at your disposal to defend yourself.

“She [accused] is a woman of prayer; we thank God for having given her the strength to fight off her assailant, but it is unfortunate that he [alleged intruder] died. We come here to give her support,” the two leaders said.

The ANC Women's League in the Joe Gqabi district would award the accused woman with a special bravery and heroism award. ''Men should speak strongly against rape and declare that not in any man’s name nor in anyone else’s should people be raped and abused,” Mantame said.

“We must all stand up and protect women and children.

“Hence you see us here in large numbers as men. We are against any form of violation of women's rights,”' he added.

The aunt of the accused, who was part of the march and who was present in court, said the family thanked God that their daughter and grandchildren had not been harmed.

NPA spokesperson Luxolo Tyali said police would have to ascertain whether the killing was intentional, provoked or in defence and the circumstances around it.

“'Even if there are allegations of self-defence and attempted rape we cannot simply act on rumours and decline to prosecute without facts,” said Tyali.

lulamilef@dispatch.co.za