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Johannesburg - Justice prevailed for a rape victim who now distrusts black men and feels “emotionally dead”.
The Khayelitsha Regional Court has sentenced a disgraced 62-year-old man to life imprisonment after convicting him for raping his foster child for more than 10 years.
The child rapist, who cannot be named in order to protect the identity of the victim, lived with his wife and four other foster children.
The state alleges that he sexually abused and raped the victim from the age of seven until she reported her ordeal to a social worker at the age of 17. The social worker reported her case to the police.
The orphaned victim had been sent to several homes before she was placed with the accused and his wife.
The victim, who was supported by court preparation officer (CPO) Nonceba Dingiswayo during consultations and her testimony, told the court that she and her siblings would sit on the floor to watch TV, and the accused would sit on the couch, and he would inset his toe into her private parts.
The accused worked night shift at a garage, and his wife worked during the day. The victim would come from school, and the accused would pull up her skirt and insert his fingers into her private parts. She thought this was “normal” as it was “her normal”.
Prosecutor Ilana Bester told the court: “As she grew older, she was tasked with taking his meals to his workplace or bringing him his raincoat if it was raining. She was the only sibling tasked with this, and it created animosity as other siblings felt he favoured her until she informed them, at the age of 11, that he instructed her to get into his bed and have sex with her.
“She testified that the only time she would get a ‘break’ was when family members of the accused from the Eastern Cape visited.”
The victim reported her ordeal to her foster mother and community members. Instead of reporting the matters to the police, meetings were held at the home, where she was promised the rapes would not happen again, the accused was sorry and she must not tell anyone because if she did, the Department of Social Development would remove her from the home.
“The rapes happened three to four times per week, and she also had to cook for the accused. She felt nobody believed her, and out of fear, she just did as she was told. He was her dad, and she respected him and the authority of being the father in the house. When she went to high school, she started keeping a diary, writing down her feelings and documenting the dates and times of the rapes,” Bester said.
The rapes continued when she was in high school. She would come from school, be ordered to cook, go to his bedroom, lift her skirt, lie on the bed and be raped. She reported the incidents to her teacher, who called in her parents to discuss the matter. Nothing came from the discussions.
She was prohibited from playing outside with other children or socialising with other children after school, as she had to cook and be repeatedly raped by the accused.
At 17, she attended an after-school drama concert and came home late. She had asked her mother for permission but when a learner transport driver dropped her off at home, the accused stormed out of the house and started cursing at the driver, accusing her of being promiscuous and saying that she did not have permission to go with the driver to the concert. He accused her of having an affair with the driver.
The following day, she approached a social worker assigned to her and disclosed what had been happening to her for years. That was the first and only time someone believed her.
The accused and his wife were arrested. The wife was charged with failure to report a sexual assault against a child. She entered into a plea and sentencing agreement and was sentenced to five years of correctional supervision. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the accused’s continuous changing of instructions and legal counsel, his trial commenced this year.
Bester called the social worker and her siblings to testify. The siblings testified that she was always protected by the accused and confirmed that she told them what had happened to her, but they were scared that they would be punished if they reported what she told them or if they told anyone else.
Highlighting the role played by the court preparation officer, Bester said: “Ms Dingiswayo played such an integral role in this matter, as the victim was scared when coming to court for a consultation with myself. Nobody ever believed her, so why would I? Dingiswayo held her hand in counselling sessions, always motivating her and just being a true mother to the complainant, showering her with love.
“My path with the victim was initially difficult as she felt the system had failed her but, with the help of the CPO, Rape Crisis and just believing in her, our trust relationship grew, and she was so comfortable at the trial stage and wanted to testify in an open court and not via CCTV.”
The victim is studying financial management and has formed a strong bond with the prosecutor, the CPO, and Sergeant Xhego, the investigating officer at the Family Violence, Child Protection, and Sexual Offence Unit in Khayelitsha.
Testifying in aggravation of sentence, she told the court that she felt it was her fault and that if her biological mother had never given birth to her, that would never have happened to her.
She said she distrusted black men and was emotionally dead. Many people had not believed her, including her neighbours, the community and her teachers. It was only when she had gone to court did she find there were people who would believe her, among them advocate Martin (who prosecuted the mother), the CPO, the Thuthuzela Care Centre case manager and the prosecutor. She said had felt believed and accepted. She thanked the State for finally making her feel like she was part of a family.
The court ordered that she receive counselling.
The Western Director of Public Prosecutions, advocate Nicolette Bell, lauded the role played by the prosecution, investigating teams and the CPO.
“Our CPOs are behind-the-scenes officials who play the most crucial role in empowering victims, helping them claim their lives and their dignity, face their abusers head-on, and assist in securing sentences fitting the crimes. I also want to call on parents, teachers and community members to listen to and believe reports of abuse from our children. They have no reason to lie about their abuses unless they are influenced by adults,“ Bell said.
The Star