GBV survivor defies death to tell her story

JOHANNESBURG - A Mamelodi woman who was doused with petrol, set alight and left for dead, has lived to tell her story.

Lindiwe Zitha spent over a month in hospital after being attacked by her former boyfriend.

The police have closed the case because her attacker has since died.

"All I want is closure because whenever I think of the days leading up to that fateful night, nothing even hinted that he would do something like this to me," she said.

Zitha spent over two weeks fighting for her life in ICU.

At the time the circumstances around her attacker’s death remained a mystery.
 

Gender Based Violence activists say while Zitha's case is not like any other.

Economic dependency makes it difficult for some women to leave their abusive partners.

"When the breadwinner is the abuser, it forces women to stay," said Omogolo Taunyane-Mnguni from GBV Monitor SA.

"Because they think they will not be able to survive without this person, and women sometimes don't have the necessary economic empowerment and decide to stay.”

* eNCA's Nokwazi Qumbisa reports.