Durban - There is a war on women in South Africa.
Thousands of women have been killed this year, and according to police minister Bheki Cele, the rate at which women in SA were killed, abused and violated remains worrying and unacceptable.
In three months alone, a total of 989 women were killed.
Three months! Despite the country commemorating the 16 days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, the reality is women continue to be victims of violent crimes in South Africa.
This year, the media has reported on a number of horrific crimes.
In October, two women were killed, stripped naked and dumped in a parking lot in Isipingo, south of Durban.
The bodies of Lee Ann Jaers, 30, and Ashleigh Jaers, 17, were found naked and abandoned in Mahes Road in Isipingo.One of the women was shot, while the other was strangled.
That same week, a cop was charged with the murder of two women. Two women, 18 and 24, were declared dead by paramedics.
It was alleged he was romantically involved with both women.
This week, the policeman was alleged to have taken his own life in Westville Prison according, to Action SA.
Even the elderly were not spared.
In October, a 21-year-old man allegedly raped an 84-year-old at her home in Esibizane Village, Newtonville home.
He fell asleep at the crime scene. Sadly, the woman died two weeks after the attack.
A North West son did not spare his mother when he killed her and then drank her blood.
Thabang Moswane,24, is charged with the murder of Kedisaletse Elizabeth Moswane, 53.
He is alleged to have stabbed his mother following an argument and then drinking her blood. He remains behind bars.
The bodies of six women, believed to be sex workers, were found in a building in Johannesburg in early October.
A 21-year-old has been arrested. Five of the six bodies had been decomposed.
A Durban woman was killed at Gateway Theatre of Shopping despite having a domestic protection order against her ex-boyfriend.
Sasha Lee Monique Shah was gunned down in the Gateway parking lot in November by her ex-boyfriend, Kyle Inderlall, who then turned the gun on himself.
Eastern Cape make-up artist Suritha Alting was stabbed to death while walking home in November.
The 28-year-old was leaving a restaurant.
Two women Magistrates were also killed this year.
Western Cape Magistrate Romay van Rooyen was found dead in her home in September.
Her 18-year-old nephew Cassidy Hartzenberg, who was a pall-bearer at her funeral, has been charged with her murder.
He remains behind bars.
In another incident, a 38-year-old Mount Aylif magistrate, her husband and two children were travelling from a village when they came under fire. The incident took place in November. The magistrate died while her husband and child escaped with injuries.
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