It is more than two years since Dimpo Skelenge was brutally murdered. Her body was found on 7 September 2022. She was allegedly murdered by Wiseman Ndara, her ex-boyfriend. (“Woman killed, man arrested” Hermanus Times 14 September 2022).
Skelenge’s family and GBV activists have travelled from Ashton to Caledon to attend every court appearance of the alleged killer, only to be disappointed time and time again as result of the case being postponed.
On Friday 22 November the case took a dramatic turn when the plea bargain the alleged killer’s lawyer presented was not accepted by the state, because the proposed sentence was not agreed on by the state. Femicide should receive the maximum sentence of life imprisonment and not the much lesser sentence proposed in the plea bargain. (A perpetrator can enter into a plea bargain, which means there is no trial. The terms of sentencing can be negotiated between the perpetrator’s lawyer and the state).
Regional magistrate Ntombebongo Gxashe remanded the matter for trial. The trial will start on 15 April 2025.
On hearing this news, Dimpo’s mother, Lydia Skelenge, collapsed outside the courtroom and had to receive medical attention.
Tanya Bippert of 1 Billion Rising, an international organisation fighting for justice for victims of Gender-based Violence (GBV), said: “South Africa has a very good constitution, but there are loopholes that need to be looked at because times are changing. Twenty years ago GBV was not spoken about.
“Today it is an everyday occurrence. Times have changed and we need to adapt our laws and especially our court processes as well where perpetrators are now playing courts for time. It needs to be looked at because we are fighting a fight that we are never going to win if changes are not made.”
