Home South African “I miss Uyinene so much” – mom

“I miss Uyinene so much” – mom

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A year has passed since Uyinene went into the post office to collect a parcel and never came out.

Mother of Uyinene Mrwetyana Nomangwane Mrwetyana. File image. Picture: Ayanda Ndamane African News Agency

Cape Town – A year to the day, a potential leader of the country died.

Today we remember Uyinene Mrwetyana, 19, a student at the University of Cape Town (UCT) who was killed at the Clareinch post office in Claremont and later dumped in an open field in Lingelethu West in Khayelitsha.

Her death sparked a massive outcry among the nation and sparked marches calling for harsher sentences for perpetrators of gender-based violence (GBV) and more services and protection for women, as well as the #AmINext campaign to end GBV in South Africa.

Her only crime was collecting a package she had bought online from the post office.

A year after her daughter’s death, Nomangwane, Mrwetyana’s mother, told Newsroom Afrika they hoped to turn the spot where her daughter was murdered into a wellness centre for victims of GBV and their families.

“I want to change this place of pain into a place of healing to assist other victims of gender-based violence and other families.

“I miss everything about Uyinene. She was caring, dynamic and very outspoken. Those are the things I miss. I miss my cheerleader,” the grieving mother said.

Post office employee Luyanda Botha admitted to murdering Mrwetyana and was sentenced to three life terms in the Western Cape High Court for double rape and murder.

It took the police and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to finalise Botha’s trial.

This past Sunday, people from all over came to remember the teenager as they lay flowers, ribbons and letters at the Claremont post office.

While we remember her name, violence against women in South Africa seems to have rocketed. Last week the body of a 22-year-old woman was found on a dumpsite in Philippi.

African News Agency (ANA)

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