We remember Aviwe Jam Jam

Aviwe Jam Jam was young, beautiful and loved by her family and friends. The 26-year-old single mom from Khayelitsha enjoyed the full support of her mother and stepfather. They were fully aware of the challenges she faced working and raising a young child, and were more than willing to help in any way they could.

At work, Aviwe was well liked and colleagues and friends all remember her as a gentle, strong-willed woman who was full of life. By all accounts, Aviwe was a people's person, which makes the horrific manner in which she died even harder to accept for everyone who knew her.

On July 22, 2017, Aviwe called her parents from the Kuilsriver home she shared with her boyfriend and their two-year-old son. They were not to know that this would be the last time they would hear her voice and that it was the start of days of uncertainty culminating in heartbreak. On July 29 her bruised body was found at Vygieskraal Stadium in Athlone. She had been beaten to death.

Aviwe's family had reported her missing when they could not contact her, but they were only informed of her death ten days after her body was found. Her boyfriend claimed that she was on her way to a salon on the day she vanished.

According to evidence presented at the trial, traces of blood were found in the boyfriend's car. He had allegedly enlisted the help of a friend to dispose of the young woman's body after beating her to death. The case, which has been postponed a number of times, is still ongoing.

While Aviwe's family await the outcome of her trial, they also have to care for her beloved son who now has no mother to love and nurture him during his formative years.

Aviwe will never celebrate another Women's Month, another birthday or another Christmas. She will see her son grow up. Aviwe will never have the opportunity to see the dreams she had for herself fulfilled.