Matric pupils at Zwelinzima Senior Secondary in UMzimkhulu, KwaZulu-Natal, are forced to study while looking over their shoulders concerned about horse-riding thugs who are bent on abducting and forcing them to marry them under the pretext of the traditional ukuthwala practice.
However, the police, when approached for comment, told Sunday World they did not have any record related to claims by the pupils. The police, however, added that members of the community were “afraid to report these matters”.
“People are often afraid to report these Ukuthwala cases. We encourage any girl who has been a victim to come forward so that the perpetrators can be brought to book,” police provincial spokesperson Thenjiswa Ngcobo said.
Ukuthwala is a form of abduction that involves the kidnapping of a girl by a man with the intention of forcing a girl’s parents or family to agree to marriage.
The tradition is prevalent in KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape.
Matric pupils who spoke to Sunday World went into the gut-wrenching details of how some of them had escaped the wrath of the brazen “criminals”, as described by the girls.
A 16-year-old Anele Mavimbela explained how three adult males tried to abduct her on her way back from school.
“They were armed with pangas and pulled me by my school uniform and forced me onto a horse. I screamed for help while trying to fight them off. I fell off the horse and broke my leg. They then tried to drag me, but other people noticed what was going on, which prompted the men to flee,” said Mavimbela.
Another pupil, Lungelo Msomi, said that she had been attending extra evening classes when “the thugs” pounced on her.
“I think I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I heard them speaking among themselves, complaining that they could not find who they were looking for. One man looked at my direction and suggested they should take me instead. I ran for my life, but they caught me and forced me to go with them. They locked me in a house,” she said.
Msomi said neighbours who heard her screams notified the police, forcing the men to release her.
“One man told me that I would be his wife and that he would pay lobola,” she said, recalling her frightening ordeal.
The school’s governing body chairperson Mluleki Dlungwana confirmed to Sunday World that the abduction of young girls was spiralling out of control in the village.
“It’s the problem we have been battling for years. These men are armed and dangerous. The police try to help, but sometimes they are not there.
“Our children are terrified. They target matric learners and we’re afraid that this will have an adverse impact on the matric results,” said Dlungwana.
Department of basic education officials had not responded to our queries by the time of going to print.
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