As the country was celebrating Human Rights Day on Saturday, 16-year-old Liyabona Mabishi’s right to life was taken away.
The Grade 11 learner from Nkanini in Khayelitsha was slaughtered by three men who left her fighting for her life.
The teen lesbian was walking with her 18-year-old friend when she accidentally bumped into one of the men.
She apologised for knocking him but her words fell on deaf ears and she was stabbed 13 times.
Her friend, who tried to intervene, was also attacked.
“I have always kept her by my side fearing for her life,” said distraught mother Philiswa Mabishi.
“I feared that she might be a victim of ‘corrective rape’. I never thought she would be killed like this.
“I always made sure I know where she is and when it is getting dark, I would search for her so she can come home.”
VICTIM: Liyabona Mabishi, 16, was killed in Khayelitsha
On this fateful day, they were celebrating a friend’s birthday and Liyabona’s mother let her guard down.
“There is an adult there and I thought they were safe. They were on their way to fetch a friend who was also coming to the party when this happened,” says Philiswa.
The mother says when she received the news and was asked to go to the scene, she could not go.
“I suddenly lost strength, I felt powerless like my soul was exiting my body. I asked my brother to go, she died while on the way to Khayelitsha Hospital.”
The mother says she wants the people who murdered her child behind bars: “Her friend cannot talk at the moment due to the injuries, but I want them arrested for what they did.”
BRUTAL: The site where Liyabona was found stabbed
Sivuyise Fuzile from Free Gender said they are angry and heartbroken: “It’s very disturbing and triggering that something like this happens in our communities.
“It is very sad to live in fear as a homosexual person because you don’t know what might happen to you. It is not fair at all.”
Police spokesperson Sergeant Noloyiso Rwexana says cases of murder and attempted murder have been opened and detectives are following up on leads in order to bring perpetrators to book.