Meghan Markle visits memorial of murdered Cape Town student to ‘show solidarity’ against gender-based violence

‘Being able to recognise Uyinene was personally important to the duchess’

(Sussex Royal/PA Wire)

The Duchess of Sussex paid a visit to the memorial of a murdered student in the South African city of Cape Town, as a “personal gesture”.

Uyinene Mrwetyana was raped and killed in the suburb of Claremont last month.

The 19-year-old student's death sparked several protests against the high prevalence of gender-based violence in South Africa.

Earlier this week, the duchess visited the post office where Ms Mrwetyana was murdered.

There, she tied a yellow ribbon onto the memorial which read: “Simi kunye kulesisimo”, which translated from the local language Xhosa means: “We stand together in this moment.”

An Instagram post shared on the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s Instagram account stated that duchess visited the memorial in order to “pay her respects and to show solidarity with those who have taken a stand against gender-based violence and femicide”.

“The duke and duchess had been following what had happened from afar and were both eager to learn more when they arrived in South Africa,” the caption read. “The duchess spoke to the mother of Uyinene this week to relay their condolences.”

The caption added that “visiting the site of this tragic death and being able to recognise Uyinene, and all women and girls affected by GBV [gender-based-violence] (specifically in South Africa, but also throughout the world) was personally important to the duchess”.

Over the last couple of days, the royal has taken part in private visits and meetings in order to learn more about women's rights in South Africa.

The Sussex Instagram account has added a link to its bio to an article in The New Yorker magazine, which outlined how the death of Ms Mrwetyana inspired protests across the country.

The caption of their post also included the hashtag “#AmINext”, a social media campaign launched five years ago to raise awareness of the number of Indigenous women in Canada going missing and being murdered.

Earlier this month, a man was arrested in connection with the rape and murder of Ms Mrwetyana.

To learn more about gender-based violence services, you can visit the website for charity Refuge here.

For all the latest news on the royal tour, click here.