SA's black widows

Every day four women are murdered by their partners, and we don't even hear about it. A recent spate of cases where women have been accused of murdering their partners has sparked shock, debate and huge media coverage.

Article: Melinda Ferguson

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"Women who like glamour at any cost are killing their men for money," wrote respected journalist and author, Fred Khumalo, in his Sunday Times column entitled, Having Spouses Knocked Off is a Macabre Kind of National Hobby (December 2006).

"We live in a selfishly violent society in which husbands get callously 'cashed in' by wives for insurance payouts... [Although] there is no empirical evidence to back up what I say, a random look at other recent contract murders indicates that women [are] getting their husbands killed so they can inherit insurance money."

Khumalo was referring to a spate of killings over the last two years, allegedly committed by women driven to kill by greed or revenge. A particularly gruesome murder was that of Albert Mojapelo, a West Rand mining executive. On 29 September, 2005, Mojapelo woke up early, scarcely able to contain his excitement.

In just one day he was to receive R1-million in pension and retirement payouts. But before his ship came in, cruel fate and greed intervened. Mojapelo was kidnapped by three armed men, driven in his own 4x4 to a secluded area on Orange Farm and shot twice in the head and once in the upper body. His widow, Tinky Mojapelo, 38, her friend, Antoinette Mkhensani Masuku, and one of the alleged hitmen, Orlando Mandoza, appeared in court in November last year on kidnapping and murder charges.

In a report in the Sowetan, (29 November, 2006) after the accused's court appearance, the deceased man's sister, Sophie Makgotla, said she had never felt comfortable about her brother's wife. "Their marriage was a secret. My brother was emotionally abused by his wife," she said. She also claimed that his widow and alleged hitman, Mandoza, had been lovers. "I want justice done.

Women can have violent impulses
They deserve a long sentence so they can be an example to other women who are planning to kill their husbands," said Makgatlo. The trial has been postponed until 1 June this year. "We tend to forget that women can have violent impulses, and can be responsible for these deeds just like men can," says Professor Deborah Posel, head of WISA (Wits Institute for Social and Economic research).

"Of course, we should not forget that women are generally the victims of violence at the hands of men. But it would be naive to romanticise all women as non-violent, peace-loving creatures."

"While women have played a key role in the struggle in this country as brokers of peace, I don't doubt that women are capable of being violent or hiring people to perform a violent crime." "We are a murderous bunch here in SA," says Dr Elrena van der Spuy of the University of Cape Town Criminology Department.

"The desire to exterminate partners must have something to do with the perception that it will resolve intractable conflicts. In addition, we have high tolerance levels for using violence to settle scores."

"I think we have underestimated the extent of lawlessness in our country," adds Professor Posel. "We tend to forget that violence has become a way of interacting, defining – at least in part – the terms of a relationship; it has become a language in itself."

Copying what men have long been doing
Although murder and homicide have traditionally been primarily male terrain, according to Dr Van der Spuy, "Recent examples of women hiring the services of amateurs or professionals to murder, are probably just a way of copying what men have long been doing."

"Third party or contract murders are bound to be more premeditative and 'rational' as opposed to killings which happen in the heat of the moment. Contract assassinations also suggest a privatisation of violence with the view to settling disputes which may be personal, political or economic."

We are all too aware of the insanely high and devastating levels of crime in South Africa today; in fact some people have all but become immune to it. Contract killings just add to the milieu of violence.

Although not strictly falling into the category of 'black widow', her high-profile murder case has led people to call alleged baby killer, Capetonian Dina Rodrigues, every name imaginable from 'evil personified' to the 'incarnation of Satan'.

The baby Jordan murder
Few can forget the headlines and media frenzy that erupted in June 2005 when news of the murder of six-month-old baby Jordan Norton hit the news-stands. At the heart of the sensational case was then 24-year-old Dina Rodrigues, accused of masterminding the brutal attack by hiring four hitmen to murder baby Jordan, the daughter of her boyfriend, Neil Wilson.

Rodrigues is alleged to have been enormously threatened by the presence of the baby, even though the child's mother, Natasha Norton, and Neil Wilson were no longer romantically involved. Dina was "very upset, very angry" when a paternity test showed that he was the girl's father, according to Neil Wilson in the Cape Town High Court in February 2006.

Wilson testified in court last year that he had received an SMS from Rodrigues at 1pm on the day of the murder asking him to call her. When Wilson called her back, she said: "Your baby is dead", and that she had paid R10 000... "for it all to go away."

Rodrigues' bail was revoked in September 2005 after she threatened Wilson with SMSs, violating a bail condition that prohibited any contact with state witnesses. (At the time of going to print sensational, new evidence was heard in court by an 18-year-old identifying Rodrigues as the woman who paid the group of four hitmen to murder baby Jordan.)

"States in transition often produce insecurity and a breakdown in traditional structures," says Johannesburg-based clinical psychologist, Diana Kriegler. "We are seeing this expressed in the general increase in crime in SA now – with new-found freedom or huge changes in economic and political status, chaos tends to fill where there used to be some (albeit oppressive) structures. Perhaps women, too, are beginning to lash out as they now have the space to do so."

"As the liberation struggle is replaced by that of a struggle for empowerment, the focus on materialism intensifies," adds clinical psychologist, Lerato Mabalenge. "In some instances this results in high levels of greed, fostering a self-centred attitude and the need for instant gratification. Women have been empowered in visible and significant ways. With that, the notion of a dependent woman is becoming foreign, as many aspire to acquire wealth and take matters into their own hands, where some choose violence in a misguided attempt to gain power."

"The temptation to use violence in a society like ours, with a long history of brutalisation, is enormous," continues Professor Posel. "Add the cocktail of money and greed and you end up with something just as explosive in a woman's hands as it would be in a man's."

Women are assuming control over their lives
We live in an age of many changes, a world of the Laila Alis, Lara Crofts, Tank Girls and movies like the Kill Bill series, where Uma Thurman literally takes on and tramples down an army of men. More and more female superhero icons are taking their lives and safety into their own hands and on occasion, perpetrate violence themselves.

"In popular culture, violence has always been regarded as a male domain, but recently a counter trend is emerging which presents women as far more assertive, active and physically capable of defending themselves as well as perpetrating violence," says Professor Posel.

"So we have many more young women who really have assumed some control over their lives, who feel empowered and who are definitely not pushovers. Of course they are not the majority; but this new image does shift the way we think about gender."

But does this make women killers? Of course not. It does, however, create a distinct notion that times are changing. "I think we notice these cases more and sensationalise them because they violate cultural assumptions of women as caregivers and peacemakers," says Dr van der Spuy.

"It's probably worth re-examining those cultural assumptions." "It's an illusion that women are all-vulnerable and sensitive, while men are all-macho and logical," adds clinical psychologist Lerato Mabalenge.

One woman who seemed anything but 'vulnerable and sensitive' was Christina Molokomme, wife of Scorpions detective, Phillip Molokomme, who was kidnapped in December last year by two hit men. Christina, a once trusted wife and Polokwane police officer, allegedly hatched a plan to have her husband killed after discovering information that would lead to her enrichment in the event of her husband's death.

She allegedly hired hitmen who gained access to the Molokomme home with her own remote control and were armed with her police-issue firearm when they overpowered her husband and kidnapped him. Molokomme was rescued just in time when police were tipped off about the kidnapping, and Christina Molokomme was arrested soon thereafter on charges of conspiring to kidnap.

Is this a new trend?
The question of whether these cases represent a chilling and disturbing new trend begs to be answered. "Although these cases may not in fact be showing something as big as a 'trend', they are important in that they are lifting the lid on the idea that women, too, can perpetrate violence," says Professor Posel.

Lisa Vetten, senior researcher and policy analyst at Tshwaranang (an organisation that fights violence against women), warns on reading too much into the current 'trend-spotting' situation. "These cases are attracting so much attention in the media because they are unusual."

"It's really sensationalising this stuff and trying to make a trend out of nothing. I think beneath all this hysteria, people's concerns are being fuelled that women have been given too much power. They are now being demonised and seen as being dangerous – capable of wiping men out. Why is there no equivalent to a black widow in male terms?"

"There are in fact very few cases like Daisy De Melker, and all this nonsense about women being dangerous and nasty just makes for good sales of publications. Every day four women are killed by their male partners!"

"Why are we not examining that in the same way as we are inspecting these isolated cases and trying to make a trend out of them? It's very dangerous to feed into the sensation and label these cases as this 'new trend' – violence has always existed in human nature."

"We simply don't know whether this is a new trend," says Dr van der Spuy. "To talk about trends means plotting the rise and fall of phenomena over longer periods of time and having access to reliable data on the subject matter. Contract killings in SA are yet to receive this kind of empirical research attention."

"There have always been people, men and women who kill for money and greed, or for revenge," says Vetten. "Greed is a very sad fact of human nature. But in this instance, all we really have are three or four cases, where only one woman has been in fact found guilty – so how can we possibly call this a trend?"

Trend or no trend, what comes to mind is this: has society become so callous that the quest for money and self-enrichment has drowned all reason, where human life can be snuffed on command in exchange for cash?

Share your comments with us below.

- True Love

This is a very touchy subject, what I must add to this is the fact that this is so widely broadcast, but woman and child abuse is swept under the mat, the police say it loud and clear, its domestic violence, does this not fall into the same category?

Congratulations. I think its fantastic. More power to you. This is said on an general level and is not pointed specifically at the individuals mentioned in the articles. Glad to see women behaving like men.

It is quite suprising that most of the comments in this aticle has been made by white professors who have no clue about our way of life. This kind of stories have been there for a donkeys years, they just have not made it to the media. There are a lot of families who are torn apart with this kind of accusations and counter accusations

Seems like the "equality bill" has been misunderstood by both sexes.Remember, something not gained by honest sweat, is not blessed. Let's start fearing GOD than maybe we will learn to respect one another.

I commend the fact that you say: They tend to forget about all the women being murdered, raped, beaten and brutalised by their own partners. So what if a few woman could not take it anymore. There is always two sides to a story and the media tends to always ignore that fact.

Men are from Mars and Women from Venus. Although we are both human species there are subtle differences in the way we think and do things. The man, instinctive hunter and fighter could more easily turn his aggression to the fairer tender gender. The woman, inherently a nurturer and protector would find it more difficult to perform a gruesome deed and would probably not have the physical strength to do the deed herself and hence the contract. This modus operandi attracts media attention due to it's sensationalism. Lets face it, the media is biased. Women suffer at the hands of men far more and most of it goes unreported. Many are genuinly 'stuck' in situations and just bare he abuse that comes their way. It is terribly sad. However, what drives the minds to do such acts of violence against each other? One only knows and can understand once you have stood on the edge and looked over. I believe that the problem could be addressed before people get to that stage. Our facillities are geared for a reactive and not a pro-active social system. there are not enough facilities or skills to deal with councelling. Also the powers that be are unable to equate the value of the cost. ie It is easy to make provision for a number of convicted people but how can you cost the value of a "potential" deed. The saving is far grater than the latter but is intangible so we sit in a reactive mode. As many of us older guys will know, the Governments trained us to kill in a war situation. None of US want that. Then they expect a law abiding society without post trauma councelling. The lack of self respect, respect for others, lack of discipline, lack of God and Love in our lives has resulted in the recklessness and uncaring attitude of the society in which we live today. - Denis

Here we go again! A black (Moeketsi) will only see the white racism in this report and not the overall content. What do you mean "our way of life"? Does it mean your way of life is different than that of a white man? Is it not what whites have been trying get across for so long only to be labelled RACISTS? But thank you for clearing up the confusion and I hope your comrades will take note and not have the audacity to call any white a racist when they bitch about not accepting "Your way of life"

Many abused woman are so scared of the abuser that they have to get another man to kill the abuser as they are not strong enough to do it themselves - hence the so-called contract killers. The fact is that even courts still discriminate against woman killers as most males will get sentenced between 2-8 yrs for killing a spouse but she will get between 7-15 yrs while still being accused of doing it for money instead of her safety.

Nowadays there is a tendency of women who are going all out to destroy their females collegues just because they dress better than them, competent, intelligent. They hate it when their bosses are prasing them and as such they feel threatened and then developed jelousy which can even lead to food poisoning

If one take a visit to places like Ledig in the Northwest province, Three in five families has no father. If you ask, they have died from some sickness or somthing. The point I'm making is that rural woman in the olden day they will poison and now in our days in urban settlements they they hire assasins.

I am rather concerned about "our way of life" that Moeketsi is referring to. I am not sure if violence and killing should be any one's way of life. These are the stereotypes that have taken us a long time to overcome that in the black community it is ok for people to practice violence because "it is a way of life". Very disturbing indeed. - Lebo

Maybe i failed to make myself clear. My commment is based on the fact that the comments made in this article are based on psycho-analysis. It is not based on experience of the way of life of the peoples under scrutiny. To compare the killings by both men and woman is been short-sighted. Men kill woman purely because of rage, jealousy, violence, or because they are more vulnerable and easy targets for rape and thugery. Woman on the other hand, their drive is mostly based on greed and a way out of an abusive relationship. You look at all these stories they usually involve people who are thought to be rich

I wish that people in this SA can truely become colour blind. A Black Widow as ANY woman who would kill. The fact that it is happening in the black community is coincidentail. The common thread can be the fact that there is money involved or what ever drives woman to kill. Daisy de Melker was white, like the milk she was named for. Please please see past our colour issues and get to the real point - what is driving our woman to become violent. That is the true colours we should be concerned about.

First let me say I am a south african man and I am appalled by what our society is doing to women. they tend to forget that in most cases the women has endured sleepless nights even painful existence suffering the abuse in the hand of a man. even our justice system des not sympathise with them. Just imagine a woman who has suffered emotional, physical, sexual and finacial abuse with a lot of broken restraining restraing orders decide to save her own life and end up killing her partner whether personally or with the help of other person. She would be labled derogatory names like black widow and they will be accused of premeditated murder even though they know she has no physical strength to kill she has to plan to make the pain go away. I know that sceptics will say I condone what they did but no they had no choice. Remember that they don`t only suffer from the abuser, even families makes it worse. when the husband dies the family suspect the wife. The husband family even take away the inheritance left for the children left behind. If you go through statistics women help for killing their partners are incarcerated for a longer term compared to men. I know there are documented cases on women killing their spouses for monetary gain, well even men do that they are even worse because some even kill their children to avoid maintenance. Like I said I am a black male south african I hear some of my friends say they will organise someone to deal with the kids should he be houled to maintenence court. Sometimes forget that good old communication still wields power and it never sheds any blood. So please judge its case on its merit and mitigating circumstances. Brothers and sisters please don`t kill each other, the nation is suffering as it is.

There are two topics bundled together in this article, one wifes killing for greed and those that kill to get out of an abusive relationship. Killing for greed has been there but was not really covered by media as it was insignificant in terms of statistics, but now that the media elevates it, it is more likely that this phenomenon will eventuate in the same way as men are wiping out their families and commit suicide. Sure it will become a trend, trends starts like this... We should not try to confuse this with killings resulting from abusive relationship and try to justify killings for greed with abusive relationships. Yes, it is a fact that a lot of our mothers went through abusive relationships and is very sad. No one likes it, we try so hard so prevent it and stop it

I wonder why is it that the upbringing issue is never mentioned in these cases. I also think violence in the society could also well be brought about how one was brought up or what they have suffered when they were raised. I have done some reading on what is termed borderline Personality disorder(BPD). Where people affected by this mental disturbance could inflict so much violence in relationship which could lead to contract killings from the abused party. I would say firstly as this disease is not well established in our country but exists a lot, one would have to go psychiatry evaluation to find out the need. pity in the USA there are clinics solely concentrating on this type of disorder disease. & hey one can never see/note this type of people as they can hide it but not for such a long period. So all in all i would say it has to do with one's upbringing, a women who has gone through family abuse while being brought up would definitely see contract killing or black widow as being a norm to the society.

How ANYONE can mention Dina Rodrigues in the same article, never mind edition, of women coming to power in this country is beyond me! We have all been through immature stages of love, jealousy and rejection.. and funny enough the majority copes with it. We do not go out and kill babies for the love of a man - or am I living in a reality bubble that does not represent our county?

in some cultures it is common to hear of the death of the husband being caused by the wife, through many other means which might not understood by those who do not believe in those cultural practices. the reason for the killing of the husband used to be the only out of an abusive marriage as divorce was forbiden during those days. but also, tangible evidence could not and still can not be presented to prove the stories. the only reason that lead to the killing of the husbands in this age when women have been and continue to be empowered; can only be greed. today women can divorce and remarry as much as they please, so killing no longer hold as reason to escape any form of abuse. only lazy buggers do kill to 'cash-in' the husbands cause hard working empowered women do understand that they can survive outside the 'bondage' of marriage and they ooze with confidence; they value human life; they know that people, regardless of how evil they might perceive them to be, have those that unconditionally love and care for them; they know that life is not only about them. this kind of crime is mostly perpetuated by people who 'have-it-all', those that are on the higher side of society. just like in one recent case where the husband was killed three months after a mediterranian cruise. its greed greed greed greed!!!!

this whole thing has nothing to do with race, culture or whether you are rich or power. however, whichever way you look at it, it is utterly wrong, regardless of the kind of justification you try to back it up with. killing someone, be it a woman or man is never a right thing. whether the person has wronged you in any way. only if people could find it in themselves to learn that nobody is here for another person. people should learn that god created us equally, with brains, limbs and everything we can put to good use so that we can lead the life we want. you find people claiming that my husban/wife is what he/she is today because of me. hell no, there is nothing like that. unless people rid their minds of such mentality, many lives are still going to be lost for the selfish, self centered unjustifiable reasons....

For someone to kill, especially a woman, must be a terrible experience, it does not matter what the circumstances was. For a woman give life, she is not 'made' to take a life. So she must be very desperate in doing, or get someone to do it. Now, if a child is desperate, he goes to his parents (or that is how it should be) for help. With adults it is different. We know when, what we want is wrong or if we should just walk away. If we are brought up in a christian home, with the right foundations, if the church is our life, then we have someone to go to, or have an open mind to decide between right and wrong. It is proven over and over, if you have a support system, like your priest, or who ever is there for you (in a godly manner) people will not do these things. I'm not saying you have to walk with the bible the whole day, but the church is suppose to be there, to add value to your life, not somewhere you go once a Sunday morning, and maybe in two weeks time again (if you feel up to it) and go home just as empty as when you went there! It must become a way of life. When a person then, have that support structure to guide & help her, these things would not happen. However, you do get your kind of person, that wouldn't listen to any advise until it's too late. But the churches do not fully realise their purpose in peoples lives & the other way round. Many peoples lives has changed, because they want to change, it's so simple.... it's a matter of changing your MIND!!!

I think it's wonderful that Violent, murderous, and abusive women are getting the spotlight. It actually uncovers a major flaw in the justice system. So many of you say that violence against women and children at the hands of men has been swept under the rug for years. That can't be farther from the true. What has been swept under the rug is the fact that there is a system in place that is biased against men and vengeful women use that to their advantage in divorce and custody proceedings everyday in America. It is taken much more seriously when a woman files a domestic violence order than when a man does the very same thing. Many times women use this as a tool to get custody of children and a hefty child support payment. Where is the justice in that? And speaking of child abuse, do you realize that a mother is 3 times more likely to murder her child than a father is? It kills me that women always want to fight for their rights and to be seen as equals among men but as soon as that very thing brings some negativity, we want to cry that we are the weaker sex and more should be done to protect us (Yes I am a woman). Don't get me wrong, domestic violence is an issue that needs to be addressed more, but you must realize that the culprit is not always a man. Many times it is a woman, but if a woman hits a man and he hits her back, he is the abuser. I say that is bullshit. It is time that it be revealed that woman can be just as hateful and evil as men. If domestic violence needs to have a face, we should not uncover only half of it.