Three women were attacked as the 16 Days of Activism for No Violence against Women and Children campaign kicked off over the weekend.
On Saturday morning, mom Anthea Matthews, 39, died after she was stabbed in the neck in Hillview.
Several hours later, a woman and a man were shot in Delft. The man was killed while the injured woman was rushed to hospital.
Another woman was shot and wounded in Cafda Village on Sunday morning in a crossfire.
Founder of Women Hope for the Nation, Aysha Davids, says she knew Anthea since childhood.
She says: “She was stabbed once. I mean just the fact that she was crying out and said, it’s me Anthea, clearly the person was known to her and he still did it.
“She was raised here in Hillview, she had one daughter.
“This really scared our women on Saturday, they said they don’t even care now anymore if we are women to do this.
“It looked like she was robbed because the pockets of her pants were pulled out.
“She also had bruises on her knees. She didn’t even come to us when she visited the last time. She had a lot of friends in the area, but as her body lay there on the street, I couldn’t help but notice that she was dressed nicely, and her hair looked good.”
Anthea grew up in Hillview but her family moved to Delft and according to Aysha, she visited Hillview regularly.
Aysha adds: “She had a troubled past but we could see she was coming back to the person we knew.
“She loved giving to other people even though she didn’t have much.”
Aysha says they don’t think the police will make any progress with the case, adding: “In this area, as soon as the body is taken away from the scene, the case is closed, we never hear of any convictions. And unfortunately no one saw the killer on Saturday morning.”
Anthea’s sister Lorna Plaatjies, 31, said when she arrived at the scene, the mother-of-one lay dead in the middle of the street.
Lorna says: “Her daughter was informed, she is not taking it very well. She is only 13 but said she understands what happened.
“I don’t have words to describe what I’m feeling, you read about it and you see it everyday and you never think that it’s going to hit close to home.
At time of going to print, police had not issued statements about three reported incidents.
However, Steenberg CPF chairperson Gavin Walbrugh confirmed a shooting took place yesterday morning in Bladgen Road in Cafda Village.
He says: “There is a lot of GBV [gender-based violence] in the area.
“The last time a woman was murdered, it was earlier this year and then this weekend two women were attacked in my precinct. It’s disconcerting and very sad.
“We assume it was a gang-related shooting but the investigation can tell us what the shooting was about.”