Tebogo Msimanga |
Members of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) will be at the Palm Ridge magistrate court today to support Pontsho Serumula, a NUMSA member, whose estranged husband attempted to murder her in 2014 by pouring chemicals on her face. A judgment will be handed down today.
NUMSA 2nd Deputy President Ruth Ntlokotse said Pontsho was in an abusive relationship and her husband, Given Serumula was a violent man.
“ On the 14th of April 2014 he attacked her by pouring chemicals on her body which resulted in third degree burns. The damage was so severe that she spent fourteen months in hospital and an additional six months in recovery.”
Ntlokotse said Pontsho’s husband was released on bail a day after the attack, but the case only went to trial at the beginning of last year. “They are separated, but in that time, he has attempted to harass and victimize her.”
Ntlokotse added that Pontsho had to wait five long years for the case to go to trial and during that time she has suffered extreme hardship.
“It is important that we remember that if we are to end gender-based violence in our society, then we must destroy the capitalists system which is responsible for the suffering of the masses. We cannot defeat gender based violence without creating a just society where men and women are truly equal.” Concluded Ntlokotse.
