SOWETAN SAYS | Poverty tears down human dignity

The murder case in Limpopo where two women were shot and their bodies thrown to the pigs on a farm is a troublesome incident in every way one looks at it. Beyond heart-wrenching, it questions a lot about the state of human rights in our country, as well as the energy to uphold these tenets of our democracy. 

Looking far beyond the killing of Maria Makgato, 47, and Lucia Ndlovu, 34, being a murder case, it is evident that poverty has reduced the dignity of so many of our fellow citizens, affecting their status in society.

The pair were brutally attacked when they were out scavenging for edible grub among disposed food. It is not clear yet how their demeaning activity aroused the anger of the landowner, but it is also hard to dismiss the fact that their apparent destitution could have provided the spark. 

Poverty in SA has turned itself into a new struggle for freedom and dignity, as more and more people are drawn into it while the country struggles with its aspired economic recovery.

It’s a state of affairs the government should be embarrassed to be associated with, given our widely respected constitution whose very foundations are human rights for all who live in this country.

Given the forecast by Statista, our poverty situation is not going to ease up any time soon. According, to the data agency, as of 2023, around 18.2-million people in SA are living in extreme poverty, with the poverty threshold at $1.90 (R34) daily. It says at the going rate, by 2030, over 19.1-million South Africans will live on a maximum of $1.90 per day.

Makgatho and Ndlovu would likely not have been out scavenging for food on the day they were killed had they been better resourced to care for their families. Yesterday, murder suspects, farm owner Zachariah Johannes Olivier and co-accused Rudolph de Wet and William Musora, had their case postponed in the Mankweng magistrate’s court. 

We hope that when the case returns to court on October 2 for bail application, justice will be served. The public is watching this case with keen interest because it is not only about justice but also about human dignity.  

SowetanLIVE