An Inanda family is heartbroken and seeking justice for their 17-year-old daughter, Athabile Khanyi, a Grade 11 pupil at Makhapha Combined School in Maphephetheni, who took her own life after a horrific ordeal.

Athabile died at Dr Pixley Seme Memorial Hospital in KwaMashu after swallowing pills following her kidnapping and gang rape. She was waiting for her transport at a taxi stop on June 6 when she was abducted by two men in a taxi—allegedly a taxi rank worker from Maphephetheni and a conductor. While held captive for three days, she was forced to take drugs before being released. Sadly, her aunt shared with Daily Sun that the family didn’t believe her at first, telling her to ‘tell the real reason’ for her absence.

Her sister, Ntombifikile Mthembu, shared their pain: “We are deeply saddened by what happened to Atha. What saddens us more is that the suspects are continuing with their lives like nothing happened.” ……….She said as parents they’re now afraid to send their children to the shops.

In her suicide note, Athabile revealed she was raped by different men, leaving her family devastated. Mthembu added: “We feel the police are letting us down. All the evidence has been handed over to them, yet the suspects have not been arrested. They keep saying they are still investigating or they ignore us. We don’t know what they are investigating.”

The chairperson of Civil Society in the Durban region, Nokuthula Cele, expressed their frustration: “We’ve come here several times about incidents of this nature. The problem is we don’t see justice being done. We follow up on cases, but there’s no closure. We only see action when we get involved as organisations fighting gender-based violence.”

This tragedy highlights a disturbing pattern, where such incidents recur without justice. Let’s stand together, support this family, and demand action! Together, we can fight for change.