In spite of their own pain, mothers who have lost their children to violence are helping children in their communities rise above their circumstances.
For some it has been more than two decades of waiting for justice and answers. All they have left of their children are memories, photographs, handwritten poems and newspaper clippings.
The pain has forced them to fight and not give up.
As the tears flow, so they continue to nurture and educate children in their community.
The initiative was started by Lindy Jacobs of Wesbank under the flagship of Balls Not Guns and Women’s Voice.
The group runs outdoor activities with children from soccer games and various sports activities and they run feeding schemes which are not funded by the local government.
Jacobs’ nephew, Deniel DeBruyn, 19, was shot and killed at the corner of Algoa and Theescombe Street in 2015, and her son Zunadine Jacobs, 15, who had witnessed the incident was murdered in the same community in 2018.
A suspect was arrested but later released for Zunadine’s murder while DeBruyn’s remains a cold case.
Jacobs said she felt that their pain and suffering have fallen on deaf ears.
“I have to be strong for them all, they think I have healed from my son’s murder but I need to keep on fighting for us all,” she said.
“These mothers joined me, some are still too hurt and emotional and cannot take the pain of losing their child.
“There are days when I too feel weak and powerless.
“We are giving back to our children in the community with sports activities or support groups for mothers and through feeding schemes.
“The mothers that are here today, always ask me how they can help.
“These programmes are run via Balls Not Guns and Women’s Voices which are not funded by the government.”
Sylvia Prins’ daughter, Florenzia Prins, 23, was raped and murdered by a 15-year-old boy in 1999.
The boy, now a young man, was granted parole after serving more than a decade behind bars.
Prins, 70, believes to this day that more than one person had been responsible for her hairdresser daughter’s death.
The pain has never left Prins who bursts into tears just looking at her daughter’s photographs.
“When he had to apply for his parole, I had to be part of the hearings,” she said.
“I asked why he did it and who all were responsible.
“They had found his blooded clothes inside a bath at his home.
“It was said he did this because he had to get a rank for the 28s prison gang.
“I still believe he could not have done this alone.
“I met Lindy and we support one another in our pain and help children in our community.”
Jenny Mentoor, 43, who is one of Jacobs’ neighbour’s, also lost her son, Tyron Mentoor in 2017 after he was shot at age 17 for refusing to be part of a gang.
The persons arrested for the case were set free a year after their imprisonment due to lack of evidence.
Jacobs said the women were there to help one another on their “good or bad days.”
“We began with 41 mothers and some are living with the pain everyday,” she said.
“We are there to encourage one another and to give hope.”