This S*** IS REAL!!!

So in 2005 i lived in an area close to Alex. When i was apartment hunting my friend discouraged me from choosing a place there. Apparently it is  not a safe place, but because i had always been stubborn in my ways and thinking i went ahead and got a place there. I worked night shift most of the time and so one day i decided to sleep in my room mate’s room. He was away at work.

At that time i was only 22 and so i had not acquired much property but he had. He owned one of the best Music collections i had seen then so that is what drew me to his room.  i was just exhausted and wanted to sleep  and i though to myself some Mariah Carey music would do. I had locked all the doors and went to sleep. This was at 10.00 in the morning during the course of the week. The next thing i knew three men were in my face and one was holding a gun at me and he said if  i dare scream , he will kill me. They made it pretty clear that they were there to just take our stuff. These robbers were under the impression my room mate and i were married as they kept asking me “where my husband was and what time he would be back home”.  I played and gave them the information they needed. After a few minutes they all left the room and one came back. He came onto the bed and opened up my night dress and started to touch my behind.

He said i was “fresh”. It was in that moment i realized that he could potentially rape me. I could not cry. I could not move an inch. I lay praying to God it would end soon. I kept saying Lord this is not how my life is going to end. If you have ever a traumatic experience. Those prayers we say when we are scared and fear for our lives. One of his friends clearly said ” that is not what we came here for”.  As soon as they left i lay there for over 30 mins scared that they may come back and finish the “job”. It was only there after that i ran to the nearest phone booth, barefooted and called my sister.

Violence is real. Rape is real and so is this story. As a community we can support and show love to women , men and children who suffered this kind of trauma at the hands of evil men and sometimes even women. We must learn to speak up and ask for help. To those of us who can help, let us be trust worthy and treat the information shared as sacred. People’s lives depend on that. So to all the families and individuals out there please speak up. Someone’s life can be saved!  Thank you Lebo Pule​ for reminding that there are demons we need to face as a community and the only way we can get to a safe and peaceful as well as happy Society is if we learn to be SPEAK UP!!