Cape Town - Free Gender, an LGBTQIA+ organisation in Khayelitsha, has taken police in the area to task over their alleged incompetency, which resulted in the release of a suspect accused of killing a lesbian woman.
At a press conference held on Monday, ahead of a march to the Site B police station today, the organisation said lesbians faced assault, rape, and murder because of their sexual orientation.
They lived in fear of hate and violence daily, while the justice system was failing them, it said.
The organisation is calling for justice for Phelokazi Mqatyana, 24, a Khayelitsha lesbian woman, who was allegedly fatally stabbed by a man in her chest after she rejected his sexual advances, in May 2021.
The man was arrested, charged, and remanded in prison.
However, the case was struck off the roll and he was released from custody on December 14, after the investigating officer failed to present the docket before the court on three occasions.
Mqatyana’s sister Phumeza Ndlwana said the family was still distraught, lost, and angry.
“The investigating officer showed no form of interest in the case from the onset. On three different occasions, he failed to appear in court and we received no updates on the court case. He has constantly given us the ‘run-around’.
“We understand that by the time the man killed my sister, he was out on parole but, despite this, he was granted bail. That, coupled with police failure to do their job, has been traumatising to us,” Ndlwana said.
The organisation demanded the immediate appointment of a new and experienced investigating officer, and for the case to proceed on or before April 7.
Theo Masalaza, from Free Gender, said whether the investigating officer’s conduct was based on gross negligence, incompetence, or possible corruption – he had obstructed justice.
“We do not blame police for the rape, but they must investigate, gather evidence and assist in the conviction of perpetrators – and they have failed at this task.
“It has been 10 months and only now the investigation is proceeding. In these 10 months, he failed to produce post-mortem results, despite its completion, or provide DNA results, despite the perpetrator's arrest,” she said.
Masalaza said Mqatyana’s case was one of many where the police in the area had failed to do their job.