Residents demand justice for raped girl

Angry Hanover Park residents gathered outside of Wynberg Magistrate's Court yesterday to protest against a 51-year-old parolee who is accused of raping a 9-year-old girl. 

The girl from Hanover Park went missing around 3pm on Tuesday May 13. She was on her way to the madrassa when the accused gave her a R20 to buy milk from a nearby spaza shop, and she never returned home, said Hanover Park Community Police Forum spokeswoman Kashiefa Mohamed. 

She said that the 9-year-old's grandmother started searching for her around 5pm and one of the neighbourhood watch members checked her security camera and saw that the girl walked into the accused's house but never came out. 

"She let the CPF know who, then called police to come and assist. We need to know all of the parolees who come into our area. The police have failed us here. People do need second chances but some don't. They repeat what they did. Residents were shocked to hear that he is a parolee," she said. 

Hundreds of residents desperately searched the area on Tuesday evening and found the girl at the accused's home in Johnvlei Road. Around 8pm even more residents gathered outside of the accused's home. Things quickly escalated as tensions rose and police, City law enforcement, as well as the Anti-Gang Unit, Public Order Policing unit, were on immediately on the scene. Residents demanded that the suspect be handed over and when the officers attempted to put the accused into an armoured vehicle, residents started throwing stones. Several shots were fired to disperse the crowd. 

The accused, who was set to appear in the magistrate's court yesterday, will only appear today after new developments occurred. Hanover Park residents gathered outside the court with posters demanding that justice be served. 

Spokesman for Philippi Police Station Captain Lance Goliath, said that a case of public violence was opened.

"Police took action to disperse the riotous crowd. We can confirm that a 51-year-old male was taken in for questioning. Police vehicles were damaged during the incident. Nobody was arrested for public violence. The investigation into the matter is ongoing," he said. 

The Callas Foundation's founder Caroline Peters, said that the same things kept recurring because of a revolving door of injustice. She said that they couldn't keep bandaging the wounds of survivors while the justice system didn't play its part. 

"I am so tired of perpetrators who reoffend. The sexual offences register is still not open to the public. Nobody knows who they are, so it's part of a bigger systemic issue. We must know who they are as a community. Once again, it's been proven," she said.   

Anyone with any information about this incident can contact Crime Stop on 08600 10111 or use the mobile app MySAPS anonymously.