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A 53-year-old woman from Elandslagte, Matiwaneskop (just outside of Ladysmith), has been arrested for not reporting her daughter’s rape; but alternatively allowing the rapist to pay her instead.
Colonel Thembeka Mbele explains the 15-year-old girl was raped by a suspect known by both the victim and her mother. While her mother was fully aware of the incident, she took no action against the perpetrator. Instead, accepting R100 from the rapist, giving the money to her traumatised daughter to silence the child.
Explaining how the rape occurred, Colonel Mbele says, “On 1 December 2020, the young girl’s mother had arranged for her to go visit a family friend in Johannesburg. She was informed the family friend would buy her clothes, a cell phone and a gold tooth.”
When the teenager arrived in Johannesburg with her mother, the Grade 9 child was introduced to some men known by the said family friend. One of these men proceeded to befriend the 15-year-old girl, allowing the youngster to become comfortable with him—this was when things took a horrid turn.
The suspect allegedly took the child away with him, proceeding to rape her throughout the night.
In the morning, following the teenager being raped multiple times, he took her back home to her mother. At the house, the girl witnessed this man giving her mother some money, which she (the mother) then went into the house to count.
Before the young girl could be harmed again, she was rescued by two girls who knew her. The two girls took her back to the Matiwaneskop area, where she was initially too scared to report what had happened.
After summoning immense courage, she reported the matter at Elandslagte SAPS Police station with charges of human trafficking and rape being opened for investigation. Colonel Mbele says, “The investigation led to the arrest of the mother of the victim, who was arrested on 13 January 2021 at 7pm, while at her homestead at Matiwaneskop area, in Ladysmith.”
Speaking to Mary Dobbie of Newcastle Crisis Centre, the Newcastillian – Online News establishes if cases whereby rapist paying “damages” to families, preventing a case being opened, is a common practice. Dobbie elaborates, “This happens often. I am not even shocked anymore when I hear about it. I had a similar case, which also occurred in Ladysmith, where a young girl was raped, and the perpetrator paid the family to drop the case. When the girl found the courage to contact me and reopen the case, she received death threats.”
According to Dobbie, this process is called paying damages, stating this is why rapes are not always reported. “I hope the parents who accept this money, their conscious bugs them for this crime. Rape is truly a heinous crime; it takes a woman and girl’s identity and body away from her.”
Adding to the matter, Advocate Liechen Strydom of Liberation Legal Consultancy stresses that when individuals remain silent on rape, they are defeating the ends of justice, especially as rape is a criminal matter. “When a sexual offence takes place, and it involves a minor, a person has a legal obligation to report it.”
If an individual refrains from bringing the matter to light, they can face legal action. But what is sad, Strydom emphasises, this should not be a legal obligation. Rather, reporting a sexual offence should be a moral obligation.
Looking at the charges brought against the mother, that of trafficking, Strydom explains that human category falls into specific categories, exploiting a person for sexual purposes. As rape is a severe crime, members of the community are urged not to remain silent. Ignoring a rape or sexual abuse makes you part of the problem. After all, your silence allows the rapist the opportunity to continue destroying lives.
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