By: Zahid Jadwat

A gruesome incident of alleged gender-based violence in the Eastern Cape has prompted the African Transformation Movement (ATM) to reignite calls for the reinstatement of capital punishment, commonly referred to as the death penalty.

Namhla Mtwa was shot nine times at her home in Mthatha, 220km north of East London, on April 21. The alleged perpetrator was her boyfriend.

ATM spokesperson Sibusiso Mncwabe said: “We are very open [and] we are not scared. Let us bring back the death penalty for these kinds of crimes because women need to be protected. They need to be respected”.

“Your financial muscle does not mean that you must control a woman. Your financial muscle does not mean that you can dictate and go to the extent of determining the days of living of that particular woman. That must come to an end, and capital punishment is our final solution,” he added.

Calls for the death penalty to be reinstated emerged in 2020 when Mohydien Pangarker was released on parole after being convicted of child abuse, kidnapping and culpable homicide over the killing of eight-year-old Tazne Van Wyk. At the time, President Cyril Ramaphosa dismissed the calls, saying that the Constitution guaranteed the right to life for all citizens.

The latest outrage comes against the backdrop of demands for justice for Hillary Gardee, the daughter of former Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) secretary-general Godrich Gardee, whose lifeless body was found on the roadside just outside of Mashishing, Mpumalanga, earlier this month.