Cape Town - In less than 24 hours, three Cape Town women were attacked in separate incidents. The murder and assaults come as the country observes 16 Days of Activism for No Violence against Women and Children campaign, which started on November 25.
On Saturday morning Anthea Matthews, 39, was stabbed in the neck in Hillview. Several hours later, a woman and a man were shot in Delft, the woman was rushed to hospital. Another woman was shot in Cafda Village yesterday morning in crossfire.
Women Hope for the Nation’s founder, Aysha Davids, said she had known Matthews since she was a child.
“She was stabbed once, the fact that she was crying out and said, ‘It’s me Anthea,’ means clearly the person was known to her and he still did it. She was raised here in Hillview, and had one daughter.
“This really scared our women on Saturday. Suspects don’t even care that they attack women anymore. It looked like she was robbed because the pockets of her pants were pulled out.
“She also had bruises on her knees.
“She didn’t even come to us. When she visited the last time, she had a lot of friends in the area, but as her body lay there on the street, I couldn’t help but notice that she was dressed nicely, her hair looked good.”
Matthews grew up in Hillview but her family moved to Delft, and according to Davids, she frequented the area.
“She had a troubled past but we could see she was coming back to the person we knew. She loved giving to other people even though she didn’t have much.”
Davids said they don’t think the police will make any progress with the case.
“In this area, as soon as the body is taken away from the scene, the case is closed, we never hear of any convictions. And unfortunately no one saw the killer on Saturday morning.”
Matthews’ sister Lorna Plaatjies, 31, said when she arrived at the scene the mother-of-one lying dead in the street.
“Her daughter was informed, she is not taking it well, she is only 13 but said she understands what happened. I don’t have words to describe what I’m feeling, you read about it and you see it every day and you never think that it’s going to hit close to home.”
Steenberg CPF chairperson Gavin Walbrugh confirmed a shooting took place yesterday morning on Bladgen Road in Cafda Village.
“There is a lot of GBV in the area and what also happens is that many times it doesn’t happen in my precinct.
“The last time a woman was murdered was earlier this year and then, this weekend two women were attacked in my precinct. It's disconcerting and very sad. I called the station and the standby said there was only one woman who was in hospital.
“We assume it was a gang-related shooting but the investigation can tell us what the shooting was about.”
