After the news broke that Anichka Penev, a Ukrainian woman was kidnapped in Blackheath, Cape Town, women in South Africa felt how we always do when hearing of “another kidnapping” – angry.
The 35-year-old was forced out of a yellow Audi R8 after being sandwiched between two getaway vehicles. Her husband, Simeon Penev, is the owner of Nioro Plastics where the kidnapping took place nearby.
In the past year, we’ve heard of multiple girls go missing. Some cases like that of Shireen Essop had reunion stories. Others are still on ‘missing persons’ posts. Luckily, Penev now forms part of the former.
According to SAPS spokesperson Joseph Swartbooi, Penev was found in Khayelitsha on Friday night. Whether anyone was arrested currently remains a question mark for those wanting justice. Additionally, whether a ransom payment secured her release is also unknown.
It’s believed that she was found in a shack in Khayelitsha, and has since been reunited with her family.
Penev’s kidnapping stirred the international community, with some security firms warning against visits to certain parts of the Mother City. The tourism industry, some feared, would be impacted poorly to which many responded “what about the locals?” What about the people who can’t choose to simply avoid certain areas?”
As the National Council on GBV and Femicide Bill has recently been announced, many of us can’t help but wonder whether the ambitious goals it outlines (including adequate resources to deal with GBV and femicide and training programmes to combat these issues) will actually be implemented in a way that will help people feel safer.
There have been over 3000 kidnapping cases reported in South Africa between April and June alone this year, and 237 of these were reports from the Western Cape.
And, some of these cases saw male victims.
Perhaps we need to look less at speeches and Bill announcements or telling people to avoid certain areas, and turn our accountability to how these cases are handled in South Africa. Perhaps the training and adequate resources should be afforded not just to the police who handle matters, but to women and men who need guidance on how to keep themselves safe in a broadly accessible way.
Stories like Penev’s remind us that we owe it to kidnapping victims to demand better for our visitors, our locals and especially all women.
Feature Image: Twitter
