A 75-year-old woman was taken from her home in an Eastern Cape village at the weekend, assaulted and drowned in a stream.
Her body was discovered on Sunday morning, with bruises on her head and face and strangle marks around her neck.
Nokhansala Sidiki is one of nearly 40 women who have been killed in the province this year, according to cases reported to the social development department alone.
The elderly mother was allegedly accused of witchcraft following the death of a relative, who some alleged had been poisoned.
A one-minute video clip, believed to show the final moments before Sidiki’s death, was shared widely on social media.
In the video, other women can be seen pushing the elderly woman into the shallow stream while she tries to get out.
One tries to push her head under water, while others can be heard saying her head must be kept above water and she should be made to ingest the substance they allege she used to kill their relative.
Her lifeless body was discovered next to the stream that same day.
By Monday afternoon, two women in their late twenties were being held in police custody, while investigations are continuing. More arrests were expected, the SAPS said.
Sidiki’s killing exposes a worrying, and at times deadly, practice prevalent in particularly rural communities.
there is one hard truth no-one can run away from: a killing is a killing
When someone dies suddenly, allegations of witchcraft are easily bandied about, and innocent people are tortured, maimed and killed.
Cultural expert Prof Nokuzola Mndende points to a pattern where these accusations are driven by people who are struggling themselves, rather than by any objective evidence.
Regardless of these patterns, there is one hard truth no-one can run away from: a killing is a killing.
Social development MEC Bukiwe Fanta described Sidiki’s killing as part of an alarming trend of violence against women in the province, citing multiple deaths of women in May alone.
Sidiki’s is not just another case of violence against women. In that one-minute clip, it is other women who are seen pushing the elderly woman and heard making vile remarks.
The law can punish those responsible for the crimes, but communities must reject the idea of torture or so-called ‘mob justice’ rooted in fear, anger and superstition.
Authorities have to work with traditional leadership, civil society and religious leaders to challenge harmful narratives such as ‘witchcraft’, to educate communities and protect the vulnerable.
For Sidiki’s family, the video is a glimpse into a violent end to her life. She deserves justice, and so do they.
Daily Dispatch
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