On Saturday, 13 May 2023, the day before Mother’s Day, my friend Delana Cader Rawlins was executed by her husband, Ian Rawlins. Ian had abused Delana for years in front of her 3 daughters, aged 4, 12 and 15. He wasn’t even ashamed to verbally abuse Delana in front of my wife or I.

For those of you who may not know who Delana was, she was a popular Pietermaritzburg gospel singer. Delana was a visionary who founded WeServ Christian Lyric Theatre, and the driving force behind Pietermaritzburg's first Daddy Daughter Dance. This initiative was aimed at strengthening relationships between fathers and daughters. Isn’t it ironic that the father of her daughter would end her life?

On that tragic Saturday I had run into Ian, and their youngest daughter, at the Spar. Ian appeared jovial and even spoke of moving out of the city to a more quiet part of the country. Little did I know that a few hours later he would follow Delana out of a 50th birthday party and put 10 bullets in her - in front of both of her brothers-in-law - forever destroying Mother's Day for their daughters!

Ian robbed us of a singer, a mother, a daughter, a sister and a friend. He’d had several protection orders against him by the time that he murdered Delana - proving once again that our criminal justice system fails to protect our women. Ian will appear in the Pietermaritzburg Magistrate’s Court on Thursday, 1 June 2023 as he applies for bail for this heinous crime.

On behalf of Delana’s family and all of those who loved her, I call on all South Africans to act now and sign this petition insisting that the Magistrate orders abusers like Ian not to be granted bail, as they can no longer have a place in our society, where femicide is a scourge. Women are not safe in their own homes, and this is unacceptable. If Ian is released on bail witnesses' lives could also be in danger.