The recent killing of two women has highlighted the struggle that women face in the country – that of gender-based violence, with many dying at the hands of their partners.

Tshegofatso Pule, 28, was murdered in Roodepoort, Gauteng, and Naledi Phangindawo, 25, in Mossel Bay, Western Cape while the country was under lockdown.

The youth of 1976 fought a different struggle to what those of today fight. All those years ago they took to the streets, opposing the apartheid regime for imposing Afrikaans as a medium of instruction.

It has been 44 years since the student uprising that saw hundreds of young people mowed down by the apartheid regime. This led to hundreds more going into exile to swell the ranks of the liberation movements.With Covid-19 battering the globe, South Africa has not been spared the severe impact of the virus.

But women face an additional struggle – one of violence. The police have indicated there has been an increase in the number of gender-based violence cases during the lockdown.

The youth of 1976 took to the streets to fight a battle that was going to free all South Africans, irrespective of race, colour or creed. But today, women suffer in silence and some of them end up dead before their time.