By Tanya Pampalone, Rasmus Bitsch and Eliot Moleba• 22 June 2021
Nombuyiselo Mntlane mother of 14-year-old Siphiwe Mahori, who was shot dead by a foreign spaza shop owner, at her home in Snake Park. (Photo: Oupa Nkosi)
In 2015, a wave of xenophobic attacks spread across South Africa. That year, the spark was the death of 14-year-old Siphiwe Mahori, who was shot dead by a Somali shopkeeper in Johannesburg. This is the autopsy of a young boy’s death, unravelling how the media, the police, the justice system, the community, the township economy, and politicians – from the local councillor all the way up to the office of the president – fuel the violence that continues to be meted out on foreigners, even in the midst of the pandemic.
A Gauteng woman has been released on bail after stunning scenes unfolded last week when she sent out distress calls via her Facebook page claiming she was in the midst of an active hijacking and being held captive in the boot of her car, only for police to later arrest her for having made the whole thing up.
Last week,
The South African reported on a case where a woman, who used the profile name “Simphiwe Mazini Mtimande” on Facebook claimed to have been hijacked, sparking a massive social media reaction, that mobilised the public to launch the #FindSimphiwe hashtag in a bid to prevent the woman becoming yet another victim of SA’s gender-based violence (GBV) pandemic.
âFind Simphiweâ: Gauteng woman released on R2Â 000 bail after âfake hijackingâ
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Johannesburg - The 29-year-old Gauteng woman who was arrested for the fake hijacking and kidnapping saga which played out on social media has been released on R2Â 000 bail at the Protea Magistrateâs Court in Soweto.
The woman, whose real name is officially Phindile Kunene and not Simphiwe Manzini Mntimande, as she claimed on Facebook, spent the weekend behind bars after her arrest on Thursday.
Kunene has been charged with contravening the Oath of Commissions Act for allegedly submitting and deposing a false statement to the police when she reported at the Protea Glen police station that she had been kidnapped and hijacked.
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