Pretoria - Men who are insecure in their relationships should seek urgent counselling and professional help, instead of resorting to violence, says North West Premier Thandi Modise.
Expressing shock and condemning the incident in which a 33-year-old man allegedly shot his wife and her male colleague in a fit of jealousy, Modise called on real men to support prevention of violence against women and for women to break the silence on abuse.
She said that the escalating incidents of gender based violence they have experienced in the past few weeks in the province were an alarming and a worrying trend.
“Women should no longer accept that their partners are simply jealous by allowing them to answer their cell phones or question them after every phone call they have received. Mistaking this for love has proved to be costly to many women in the long run,” said the premier.
Modise conveyed her condolences to the family of the murdered man and wished the injured wife a speedy recovery.
The recent incident allegedly took place on Monday at Mahlatsi Marwana Section, near Lefaragatlhe village in Rustenburg.
According to police, the suspect allegedly phoned his wife to ask her to pick him up after work, but his wife’s phone was allegedly answered by her male colleague.
This angered the man, who confronted his wife about the incident on his arrival at home, leading to a bitter argument and the couple driving to the colleague’s place to confront him about the incident.
“It is reported that a bitter confrontation occurred between the two men before the couple left for their home, where the argument continued until the suspect drew a gun and shot his wife a few times on the thigh before she fled for her life.
“The man allegedly went back to the wife’s colleague after he could not locate his wife and shot him. He purportedly died on the scene after he was shot in his head and lower body,” said North West Police Spokesperson, Captain Pelonomi Makau.
Makau said that the enraged man, who handed himself to the police, was charged with murder and attempted murder and will appear before Bafokeng Magistrate’s Court later today.
Meanwhile, police investigations are continuing in the case of a 38-year-old man from Stilfontein, who allegedly killed his wife and set her house on fire over the weekend. The couple’s 12-year-old daughter suffered minor injuries from the fire, which Premier Modise had also condemned as horrendous and appalling.
Police are investigating cases of murder, attempted murder and arson. The man is behind bars.
Preliminary results from a Gender Links GBV Indicators Study highlighted that more than three quarters of South African men have perpetrated violence against women in their lifetime and more than half of women in South Africa have experienced gender-based violence. - SAnews.gov.za
