Child rights activists believe not only did society fail to protect a young rape victim from her foster father for more than 10 years, but that the wheels of justice also turned slowly when the case went to court.
The Khayelitsha Regional Court last week sentenced the 62-year-old man to life imprisonment following his conviction for rape.
The man was reportedly arrested in 2017 after he had been sexually abusing and raping the girl from the age of 7.
During the trial the court heard the woman was orphaned and had been sent to several homes before she was placed with the rapist, his wife and four other foster children.
The foster mother worked during the day and the husband would be with the children as he worked the night shift at a local garage.
The now 22-year-old victim was supported by the Court Preparation Officer Nonceba Dingiswayo during consultations and her testimony.
She told the court that she and her siblings would sit on the floor to watch TV and her foster father would insert his toe into her private parts.
The young woman spoke about how she would come from school, and the man would pull up her skirt and insert his fingers into her private parts. She thought that was “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 him.
“She testified that the only time she would get a ‘break' was when family members of the accused from the Eastern Cape visited.”
The girl reported her ordeal to her foster mother and community members who resorted to meetings where she was promised the rapes would not happen again.
She was threatened that she would be removed from the home by the Department of Social Development if she told anyone.
“Out of fear she just did as she was told.
“She respected him and authority as the father in the house.”
In high school, the abuse continued and she reported the incidents to her teacher who allegedly called in the parents to “discuss” the matter, but nothing was done.
At the age of 17, she approached a social worker allocated to her and disclosed what had been happening for years.
The matter was finally reported to police.
The girl’s foster mother, who was charged with failure to report a sexual assault against a child, entered into a plea and sentencing agreement and was sentenced to five years correctional supervision.
Testifying in aggravation of sentence, the victim told the court that she distrusted men, and she was “emotionally dead inside”.
Director of the Teddy Bear Clinic, Dr Shaheda Omar said no sentence for a rape or repeated rape of a minor could ever be sufficient.
“The trauma is lifelong and immeasurable. It seems to be common where children in foster care are at a greater risk of repeated violations. Foster children may be afraid of being placed in another setting which may be worse or even to protect other children from further trauma.
Unfortunately family and community members are often complacent and fail to report it, either afraid of losing financial support or emotional dependency,” she said.
Activist and rape survivor, Reverend June Dolley-Major said: “Sadly the wheels of justice turn very slowly in this country. Similar cases like this must be equally treated with urgency.
The judiciary needs to find better mechanisms to bring perpetrators to book. Looking at his age we hope he will not get parole, but must serve his full sentence.”
Ilitha Labantu spokesperson Siyabulela Monakali said far too often cases of this nature went undetected.
“It is sad that when the members of the community were informed about the ongoing rape they did not report the incident to the police. We can determine that out of fear the children could not report the ongoing rape that was taking place at home.”
Cape Times