I stand tall as a GBV survivor
It is two years since my ex-husband attacked and tried to kill me.
As year before the incident he said that he was going to kill me. For a whole year he was coming around to the house where he used to live with me and the two kids. He was checking me every day. He used to wait for me by the bus top with a knife, and he used to throw stones at me. All I was doing was trying to put bread on the table for my two kids.
One night when I came home from work, I had just put my bag down on the table when a friend of my child came to tell me my child had been bumped by a car. I rushed out to the hospital. Luckily he was released from the hospital because his injuries were not so serious.
The following morning my ex-husband came around to the house and was arguing with me, so I closed the door. My child woke up and told me he was hungry. He said he wanted to eat some of his favourite porridge. I went to the nearby tuckshop, and my ex-husband came up close to me three times and I pushed him away. When he came up the third time I hit him with my fist because he had been abusing me for thirteen years. Bodily. Physically. A whole lot of abuse that you can only imagine.
At that time, I said to myself that enough is enough. It is time for me to take a step and stand up against him.
So, there at that tuck shop, he pulled out a knife and he struck at my body-but I was fast enough to pull away. But he grabbed me from behind and sliced my throat.
I had been helped to get an interdict against him. That was in 2013, so this interdict in 2023 was ten years old , but somehow the Police could not help me. Even with seven assault cases against him it only ended with the attempted murder. I was helped at this time by a special team who made sure that my ex-husband was quickly arrested.
No-one deserves abuse.
Today I can stand tall, and I can say that I am a survivor because I finally stood up for myself. Not just for myself, but for my two kids as well. I told myself that they don't deserve that kind of life, and neither do I. I really don't deserve it.
So, that is my story, and I hope it can encourage any ladies who are going through abuse. No-one deserves that.
Story as told to a Blocktober walker
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