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For the dozens of women who train at a shooting range near Johannesburg, learning to use a gun has become a means of protection in a country where a woman is murdered every three hours.
For the first time in his life, Ntando Mthembu holds a revolver in his hands. Without hesitation, she shoots 10 bullets at a cardboard target.
Last November, Mthembu’s cousin, left alone in a house for several hours, was gang raped and murdered.
“Before this happens to me, I want to be prepared,” said Mthembu, 33.
South Africa is one of the most violent countries on the planet and its homicide rates are steadily increasing.
In 2019-2020, the country suffered 21,325 murders, according to the latest annual police report, up 1.4% from the previous year.
And the rate of femicide is five times the world average.
“Women are targets in this country,” says Matsie Noge, another participant in the training organized by the Gun Owners of South Africa (GOSA).
She brought her 24-year-old daughter to the session, which was exclusively for women. “I should have done it long before, when she was 15,” Noge added.
Every minute counts
“These trainings are focused on young black women, who are statistically the most affected by crime,” says Themba Kubheka, who organized the women’s-only training for GOSA.
“All the women here know a woman who has been raped, robbed, assaulted. Each of them has a history of crime in this country.”
For Kubheka, the aim of the training is to equip women with immediate self-defense skills in a dangerous situation.
“Instead of waiting for help, they need to be able to react first,” he said, noting that South African police take an average of 15 minutes to arrive when alerted to a case of assault.
Some 4.5 million firearms are used legally in South Africa, almost the same number circulating on the black market again, according to Gun Free SA, a group that campaigns for arms control.
President Cyril Ramphosa has acknowledged that South Africa is one of the “most dangerous places in the world to be a woman”. By MARCO LONGARI (AFP) After firing three bullets, 32-year-old Nthabiseng Phele puts his revolver on the stand. Her hands are shaking and she is sweating; she is visibly shaken.
“Holding the gun reminded me of the position I was in, when I wished I had one,” she said softly.
Nine years ago, she was raped in her bedroom by a neighbor who climbed out of the window into the house she shared with her parents on the outskirts of Johannesburg.
She did not file a criminal complaint against her attacker or receive support. Her parents berated her for her own rape, accusing her of shaming the family.
When Phele confided in a friend, he raped her too.
National priority
South African police receive 110 rape charges every day. As with the murder rate, these numbers have increased; In 2019, the number of sexual assault cases increased by 1.7%, to 53,293 recorded attacks in total.
Some 4.5 million firearms are legally used in South Africa. By MARCO LONGARI (AFP) Comparing the levels of sexual violence seen in South Africa to those suffered in a country at war, President Cyril Ramphosa announced at the end of 2019 that tackling the scourge of abuse would be a national priority.
“There is a dark and heavy shadow in our land. Women and children are under siege,” he said at the time, describing South Africa as one of the “most dangerous places in the world for be a woman”.
Today, Phele lives with a boyfriend and he knows his past. Together, they decided to set up a safe in the house – so that she could keep a gun.
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