She is traumatized after thugs came charging at her downtown Johannesburg recently. Veteran singer and Music Industry activist Mercy Pakela tells ZiMoja that she was walking at a local taxi rank when robbers came for her. The Ayashisa Amataki singer says she ran for her life after wrestling the criminals.

FIGHTING OFF ROBBERS

She was on her way to a meeting in Sandton when a lady attempted to pickpocket her. "I was walking, the lady tried to stick her dirty little fingers in my bag, but I caught her," she says. "Ndathi, voetsek sathane. Kanti, she was with two other women, in the syndicate. They tried to pull me into a corner and take my things. But I fought. I fought." Mercy says they managed to take a necklace and nothing else. "I had my phones and everything in my bag. They didn’t get anything else. I fought. They must not think that I am old and don’t know how to protect myself." Mercy says despite the trauma, she continued with her meeting. 

CRIME

She feels that the rise of crimes against women and children continues to be an issue in South Africa. "We are not safe in this country at all. Women and children are not safe. Children are being trafficked and still kidnapped daily," she says. "I am lucky to not have been harmed. I am just grateful because anything could have happened to me.

NEARLY RAPED

A few years ago, Mercy detailed how she nearly got raped but, thankfully, through a tip-off from a good Samaritan, she was able to escape before the incident occurred. She says a fellow female musician orchestrated a plan to have her gang-raped at an event. "Sandile Memela, the day you save my life, when one of my fellow musicians, was sending boys to attack." She did not want to reveal the name of the fellow musician who she claimed had orchestrated the crime. "What is worse is that it’s a woman I know. We are competitors but I did not think that she would go this far."