Weekend Thing: When the state fails its women

[Click here for the web version of this email]( [Your weekend read is all set.]( [Daily Maverick]( Saturday, 7 September 2019 [Lines in the sand]( "No more, no f**king more" A DM Commenter The end of the beginning University of Cape Town student Uyinene Mrwetyana was brutally raped and murdered for daring to go to a post office on her own. The accused, a 42 year old man, locked the door behind her and bludgeoned Mrwetyana unconscious with a scale. Tears in the gas Mrwetyana's death sparked a nationwide outcry against the rising femicide and gender-based violence crisis in the country. President Ramaphosa had appeared to be focused elsewhere while this was happening, trying to attract foreign investment at the World Economic Forum in Cape Town this week. In the middle of rife xenophobic violence as well. South African women were having none of that, however, opting to march right up to the doorstep of the world's elite gathering, demanding justice and a sea-change in the way the government perceives GBV. In typical South African form, the demonstrators were greeted with an overzealous police bombardment, being dispersed with teargas and flash grenades. Undeterred, thousands gathered the following day outside parliament, where [Ramaphosa finally spoke](, refreshingly off-the-cuff to the crowds. Vowing action, the president made vague swipes at reform with promises of a [task team]( to investigate action plans, and so on and so forth. So what? None of it will bring Mrwetyana back, nor the thousands of other women killed simply because men in South Africa are broken. However, this week's anger against the apathy over GBV and femicide in the country could, just possibly, spark a wave of action that stems the flood. — [This Weekend We're Watching]( Karabo Mafolo After a week covering protests, DM staffers give their minds a break by watching baking shows, Formula 1 docuseries and other Netflix series. [Can you hear him calling you]( [STS-133]( The spacewalk mission which Ralf Vandebergh was able to photograph down to the man in the suit outside the ISS. Ralf Vandebergh enjoys peering through his telescope. But unlike most amateur space-watchers, he actually partakes in [astrophotography]( of the world's satellites, spacecraft, and general space structures. His photographs are phenomenal, and yes, he shows you just how to do it yourself. Key Reading [Let the bones speak – historical mass grave at Simon’s Town is shrouded in secrecy]( By Marianne Thamm September is Heritage Month in South Africa, a young democracy coming to terms with a violent history of slavery, dispossession and oppression. Which is why the discovery of a possibly 300-year-old mass grave at the site of a proposed luxury development in Simon’s Town should create interest and enthusiasm, rather than defensiveness and evasion. Batty A single bat can eat 600 insects in a night. The human equivalent to eating 20 pizzas in a sitting. Weekend reading [Mugabe as reviled and revered in death as in life]( [Mugabe as reviled and revered in death as in life]( BY Peter Fabricius [It’s not all doom and gloom for derivatives trades as deadlines loom]( [It’s not all doom and gloom for derivatives trades as deadlines loom]( BY Ruan Jooste [BATTLEFIELD GAUTENG: Looting continues across Gauteng, with scores arrested]( [BATTLEFIELD GAUTENG: Looting continues across Gauteng, with scores arrested]( BY Aisha Abdool Karim, Bheki Simelane and Chanel Retief — [FORWARD THIS EMAIL TO A FRIEND]( Copyright © 2019 Daily Maverick, All rights reserved. You are receiving this mail because you are awesome and on the Daily Maverick Afternoon Thing subscriber list. Want to advertise in this mail? [Talk to us.](mailto:advertise@dailymaverick.co.za?subject=Advertising%20query%3A%20Afternoon%20Thing) [Getting too many emails from us? Manage your preferences]( | [Unsubscribe](