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The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) is not celebrating Womens’ Day. This is because there is very little for women in South Africa to celebrate.

Today as we commemorate the anniversary of the courageous generation of 1956 who marched to the Union buildings to protest against the brutality of the Apartheid system, a young woman will be laid to rest. Khensani Maseko, was an intelligent, fearless, vibrant female who committed suicide because she could not live with the pain of having been violated by her lover.

Maseko was doing the final year of a BA degree at Rhodes University. She was a student leader on the rise and she loved life. Her Instagram account is a testament to the vivacity with which she lived her life. Her future was cut short because her boyfriend, decided that she had no right to own her body, and he forced himself on her and raped her.

This cruel act is worse than death. Its effects are a slow poison which eat away at your soul, destroying everything beautiful and wonderful in your life. To some, death might seem like a welcome escape from the never-ending torture of this vicious, violent assault on your physical, emotional and mental well- being. It is our view as NUMSA that Maseko did not commit suicide, she was murdered by her lover. His actions drove her to this final desperate act, when he assaulted her. We demand that the SAPS prioritize the investigation into her death, and that the alleged perpetrator must be arrested and severely punished for his crime.

Maseko is but one of thousands of women who are raped every day in South Africa. Her story reflects the suffering of thousands of women in our country. They have been chocked into silence, beaten into submission or their lives, prematurely snuffed out. The violence which is meted out against the most vulnerable sectors of our society tells a bloody, brutal story of the so-called freedom which we are encouraged to celebrate every year.

A shocking 124 526 people have been raped in the last three years alone. Of that, a staggering 41% were children. According to SAPS statistics, one woman is killed every four hours, and they are often killed by their lover or partner. As NUMSA we recognize that attacks against women cannot simply be solved through lengthy prison sentences for perpetrators. That is a small part of the overall solution. We must understand why violence is so entrenched in our society, and, in particular, against women and children.
 
We are a nation anchored in slavery, colonialism and Apartheid. Our very existence as a nation came into being because of the violent exploitation of Black and African workers. This legacy continues. Today, African women continue to be the most exploited and abused. In the workplace they are the lowest paid, and are often exposed to the worst working conditions. They are victims of harassment and assault by their bosses, only to confront the same abuse at home.

Capitalism has created a system where bodies, and particularly the bodies of women are worthless in order to make it easier to exploit them for profit. The extreme violence against women which has been plaguing our society is a symptom of the Capitalist system in crisis. The capitalist system has compounded the suffering of the working class majority by creating a society where only the wealthy one per cent are free to live a life of freedom, wealth and opportunity, whilst the majority are expected to suffer the effects of crippling poverty, unemployment and inequality.

It is during these times of extreme inequality when the body of the woman becomes the site over which control is exerted. Our economy and society is based on a brutal, violent Capitalist system which does not value the lives of the black and African working class majority. Therefore, it is no surprise, that the African woman will suffer more than any other group because her sex, class and gender intersect in ways that ensure that she is at the bottom of the hierarchy of lives that matter within the capitalist system.

On this day, we mourn the thousands of women who have been senselessly cut down in the prime of their lives, simply for being African and female. Women like Thembisile Yende whose body was found locked in her office at Eskom where she worked. Women like Nonkie Smous, a 28-year old lesbian woman from the Free State who was raped and her body burnt, simply because she was born gay. Until we have liberated every woman in every corner of society, we cannot truly celebrate Womens’ Day.

We want to send a message of encouragement to all women who are struggling with rape and all other forms of abuse. No one can own your body or your soul. Let us unite and fight, for ourselves and for all those suffering from abuse and exploitation! Women are the source of human life, therefore, we can, together defeat patriarchy, capitalism and all other evils. 

Let us not allow these savages to rob us of our right to be. But as we fight, we must be supported by the police, the judiciary and society at large. These institutions so far, have failed to serve the interests of the working class majority and women in general. They remain steeped in patriarchy which is why rapists and other types of abusers often evade prosecution and imprisonment. The only solution is to create a genuinely equal society, where men and women are truly equal. This can only be achieved through the destruction of Capitalism, and the creation of a truly just and equal Socialist society.
 
Aluta continua!

The struggle continues!

Issued by NUMSA