Granny recounts how she survived passion killing in 1986

It has been 31 years since Rakhuna granny, Banyana Lekgetho survived seven gruesome stabbings on her back at the hands of her then romantic partner. The man would later hang himself, assuming she was dead. The 65-year-old is now wheel chair bound.

When The Midweek Sun team visited her last week, Lekgetho cautioned women to be careful in relationships. Recalling what happened during that fateful night, Lekgetho said that her long-term partner was insecure and jealous of her achievements and good looks. She explains that he was insecure because she was a hard worker and had made a name for herself in her community. At the time, Lekgetho was quite revered, known and praised for her excellent community service.

“He was insecure and thought I would leave him. He monitored my movements and questioned my friends about my moves behind my back,” she says. Instead of encouraging her to keep up with her good work or compliment her good looks, her partner instead chose to ridicule her and often told her she was ugly, she recalls.

Her friends of over 50 years, Gadifele Setlhareng and Bakisi Tlhaganyane were there during the incident. They remembered everything and also told The Midweek Sun what happened. “He stabbed her seven times with a knife! There was blood all over the floor. The man was extremely possessive and jealous,” Tlhaganyane says. He also says that the man always threatened to beat up whoever interrogated him for abusing Lekgetho.  For her part, granny Setlhareng says that Lekgetho refused to listen to them when they advised her to leave her abusive partner. “She stayed long with him but he didn’t even want to marry her. He blocked her from men who would have made her a wife,” she says.

The trio are still good friends and still spend most of their time together under a big tree along the Ramatlabama road where Lekgetho sells fat cakes. They discuss mostly the behaviour of young people, which they believe is unpleasant. According to Tlhaganyane, the youth of today do not have fear when it comes to relationships. He says that they are rebellious and driven by the love of money.

“I doubt many will live to my age. These children confuse money for love and when their relationships fail, they kill each other,” says the 83 year-old man. He adds that during their time, husbands took care of their wives unlike today where wives are sole breadwinners. Setlhareng, 82, says that another problem is that many young people seem to prefer cohabitation rather than marriage. “My parents chose a husband for me and he went to work at the mines. We never stayed together until marriage. We respected our culture, but today’s youth have the law on their side and talk about equal rights,” she says. She also expresses disgust that many school children are dropping out of school to be mothers.

Lekgetho says that given another shot at life, she would choose a partner wisely. The effects of the brutal stabbings have been far reaching, as she has been unable to have children.