Women tell how they broke the chains of abuse

Two women have described how access to training and psychosocial support enabled them to break a vicious cycle of dependence and exposure togender-based violenceand make new lives for themselves. On Tuesday, Nosidima Simelane, 40, of Maletswai, and Nelisiwe Mtimba, 48, from Qumbu, were among 68 survivors of abusive relationships recognised at a graduation ceremony for the Nyamuraka Empowerment Programme, held at Hemingways Casino in East London. The programme, established in 2021 and implemented with the Eastern Cape department of social development, provides psychosocial support and practical skills training to help survivors of gender-based violence rebuild their lives and secure an income.

Women from across the province completed training in sewing, pattern-making and basic enterprise skills as part of a provincial response to persistentgender-based violence. Simelane, a mother who was unemployed and dependent on her husband, left her abusive marriage with no income or property behind her. Then, to make matters appallingly worse, in 2024, she was shot in the leg and arm by unknown men, which left her unable to walk for a time.

“I left my marriage with nothing. I had no job, no home and a child to support. “After I was shot, I could not walk.

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I had to start my life again.” She entered the programme and said the training provided her with income-generating skills and equipment, like sewing machines, overlockers, laptops and routers, to begin working. “The skills I gained made it possible for me to provide for my child. “We were given equipment to start working. I can now produce garments and earn money.” But it was not just practical skills that Simelane learnt — she said psychological support formed part of her recovery.

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