Another child comes forward in rape case against government official

An additional rape charge has been opened against a 49-year-old senior government official for allegedly raping a minor in Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga. This is the third child to come forward with allegations of rape.

Police declined to name the government official, but said that the man is director of one of Gauteng’s many Municipalities and is the uncle of two other children who were sexually assaulted. The suspect is expected back in court today.

SUSPECT FACING THREE CHARGES OF RAPE

The suspect and his 36-year-old wife were arrested on 23 April for a case of rape involving two minors aged between 13 and 15-years-old.  It is reported that the wife, who is referred to as “an aunt to the victims” forced them to have sexual intercourse with her husband in exchange for meals.

An additional charge of sexual assault emanated after a 14-year-old girl reported that the suspect, who is her neighbour and her friend’s uncle, raped her in 2014.

Police spokesperson Colonel Donald Mdhluli said the minor was playing with the suspect’s niece when the abuse allegedly occurred.

“The victim, who was seven-year-old at the time, revealed that she was playing with the suspect’s niece when he sent her (niece) to the shop. The suspect then took the victim to his room where he took off her clothes and raped her. She further stated that the suspect threatened to kill her if she told anyone,” said Mdhluli.

The victim indicated that she was living in fear ever since the ordeal. When she heard the suspect was arrested last week Friday, she had the courage to break her silence and report the matter to police. The child has since been moved to a place of safety.

GIRLS ALLEGEDLY ‘KEPT AS SLAVES’

The rape of the two other minors occurred between 2019 and 2020. The cousins were reportedly “lured from Mozambique by their aunt under false pretence that they were going to receive a better education in South Africa”. 

“When they arrived in the country, they were allegedly subjected into rape, as well as gross human violations. According to allegations, the girls were literally kept as slaves by their own aunt and uncle in a house at Shatale near Bushbuckridge, which was supposed to be a warm home for them,” he said. 

Mdhluli said that the sequence of events indicate that their aunt would often force the girls to engage in sexual acts with her husband, and the terrible allegations suggest that when the girls refused to obey, “they would be severely assaulted and starved”. 

The government official and his wife appeared before the Bushbuckridge Magistrate’s Court on Monday, 26 April, on two counts of rape. They were remanded in custody until 29 April for a formal bail application. He will make his first appearance for the alleged rape of the 14-year-old girl on Thursday.

READ: Government official and wife arrested after alleged rape of young girls