Hundreds of Stellenbosch University (SU) students walked in solidarity on Friday, 18 September, to honour and mourn those affected by the ongoing gender-based violence (GBV) against women in South Africa.
Stellenbosch University (SU) students walked down Victoria Street on Friday, 18 September, to mourn the women who have lost their lives to gender-based violence in South Africa, and call for greater accountability in safety and prevention. PHOTO: Jade Wainwright
Students walked down Victoria Street from Irene Residence before ending at the Rooiplein, where they held candles and flashlights for a vigil and read out the names of victims who have lost their lives to GBV.
The vigil comes amid several others held across the country this past week.
Ursula Masuku, SU anti-GBV community representative, addressed the crowd before the walk, stressing that people must refuse to become accustomed to this violence.
“Tonight we walk for the women whose lives have been taken,” said Masuku. “We walk because we have become the voices of the women who no longer have one.”
“They had names,” said Masuku. “They had families, they had friendships, ambitions, futures, and ordinary little things that made their lives their own. And every one of those lives mattered.”
The solidarity walk at Stellenbosch University (SU) on Friday, 18 September, ended at the Rooiplein with a vigil held for all those affected by gender-based violence in South Africa. Students held candles or flashlights to mourn the lives that have been lost thus far. PHOTO: Jade Wainwright
Thabisile Mahlangu, South African Students Congress (SASCO) member and an SU student, said the violence “is not only an Ekurhuleni story”, but applies to women across the country. She called for prevention, accountability, and safety.
“We are constantly calculating the risk of simply existing,” she said.
As students lit their candles in remembrance, Mahlangu said the names of the women being mourned should not be forgotten.
“We light them because the darkness has taken too many of our sisters,” she said.
Students gathered outside Irene Residence at Stellenbosch University (SU) on Friday, 18 September, dressed all in black for a solidarity walk and femicide vigil in response to the ongoing violence against women across South Africa. PHOTO:Supplied/ Kuhle Mangana
Jessica Chinasa Chukwuye, the Womxn and Queer Empowerment (WAQE) society chairperson, said the fight is for justice for the women who have been killed.
“We’re fighting for the many women out there who are still alive, who are still being afflicted by their partners,” she said.
“Tonight, we spoke with our feet,” Mahlangu said. “And now we speak with our voices.”