Who will save the lives of our women?

Asithandile ‘Kwasa’ Zozo’s  tragic death is a unique story.

It is not just a story of a ambitious young woman killed by another impetuous young person.

Far from that, it is a story that exposes how far we have failed to protect women as a society.

It is a point of reflection that has brought to test many assertions about what women should do to save themselves from men.

Zozo was a dreamer.

She already knew what she wanted to do when she was in Grade 9. She even knew she wanted to be a Wits student. She wanted to be a medical doctor. She wanted to save lives.

Asked by her teacher that if she failed to be a doctor what she would do, she said she did not know, she did not have any other dream apart from being a doctor.

Such was the strength of her dreams. Going back to school to upgrade her results to meet the requirements of her dream job shows how determined she was.

Unfortunately at only 20 Zozo is gone with her dreams, her determination cut short by a problem that is not new to our society — femicide.

It is sad we could not save the life of such an ambitious young woman. If society cannot save those who dream to save lives, then who will save lives?

All femicide stories are not short of views and advice peddled by society on how women should avoid death at the hands of men, advice that comes too late.

They are not short of how women must walk out of that toxic relationship, where the famous red flags narrative is often brought to the fore.

They are not short of how women should report to the police before it is too late. Neither are they short of how alcohol or the dressing of the victim could have caused the perpetrator to commit a crime.

They are always characterised by the advice of where and when women should walk and with whom.

But what of Zozo?

She engaged the family of her boyfriend only to be ill-advised, “Be with him, at least pretend for your safety”.

She did pretend for a while but could not keep on pretending. When she decided to walk away, she met her fate.

Zozo is gone. Her killer, afraid to face the wrath of the law attempted to take his life.

What this case brings to the fore is once again a moment of reflection on how we can perhaps save lives.

We need to be honest with ourselves as a society.

Women can do everything society prescribes they must do to be safe, but a look at Zozo’s story shows that in more ways than one, policing women for their safety does not work.

If anything, this has been successful in proving our society has no place for women, regardless.

As a society we have failed to deal with masculinity which has proved toxic in many ways.

This toxicity does not start when a man kills a woman, it starts when society makes women feel they belong to no-one but men.

It extends to all sorts of putting the responsibility of safety on the victim while  giving the impression that the perpetrator had no option but to commit crime.

It is disturbing that efforts to combat violence against women are not yielding any good results. Awareness campaigns and protests against gender-based violence have proved to be nothing but just events.

What is even more disturbing about society’s behaviour towards femicide, particularly in Zozo’s case is how on Twitter some are promoting and advertising their businesses under the #JusticeForKwesa campaign.

When did we become this insensitive?

Could there be any other sign that some parts of the society will never be serious about issues of femicide, or is it that it has become so common that we are now used to the pain of losing our women so much that it no longer hurts any more?

One would think femicide, especially in this Women’s onth needs to be seen and taken with the seriousness it deserves.

Zozo story has shown us that beyond this  being a problem of the perpetrator, society in general is complicit.

We have become a society that would rather shy away from its problems, find comfort in not solving them and continue with business as usual unbothered by the vulnerability of those in need of protection.

Zozo wanted to end this.

She took action to deal with the challenge she was facing. She did not want to shy away from her problem, and instead she engaged those around her for help she but society betrayed her.

Indeed Zozo wanted to save lives not only by being a medical doctor but also by standing up when society was complacent.

Her life might have been cut short and her dreams ended but she left us a point of reflection, a point for a social revolution with regard to the safety and vulnerability of women.

Zozo will not go down the lane as just another femicide statistic.

She will instead be remembered as an ambitious young woman who tried all she could yet no-one was there for her.

Rest in peace  Asithandile ‘Kwasa’ Zozo.

Nkosiyazi KanKanjiri is a University of Fort Hare Social Work graduate. He writes in his personal capacity.