No bail for Kowie man linked to rape claim

A SECOND elderly Kenton-on-Sea man accused of raping young girls was denied bail by the magistrate’s court yesterday.

The news was greeted by loud cheers from protesters picketing outside the court building.

Magistrate CBJ Wright said because of the seriousness of the child rape allegations it was up to defence attorney Basil Williams to convince the court that exceptional circumstances existed for the accused to be released.

Earlier, Williams said even though no exceptional circumstances existed for his release from the defence side, he argued that the state’s case against the 68-yearold man was weak and “sketchy at best”.

The man, who according to legislation cannot be named due to the nature of the crime until he has pleaded, told the court he did not pose a flight risk as he owned a business locally that employed six people who relied on him for income.

He was arrested three weeks ago along with another elderly man who has been charged separately for similar offences involving the same girls.

The other man was denied bail on Friday by magistrate Louis Muller who then recused himself from hearing the second application yesterday.

Although the defence argued yesterday the man did not pose a flight risk, it emerged during questioning by state prosecutor Chwayita Mkhwayimba that the man was a Zimbabwe citizen who had been living illegally in South Africa for the past 18 years.

She argued he did not have South African residency, owned no property in the country and was running an illegal business that was not even registered with the SA Revenue Services.

Mkhwayimba said he also had no dependants and was indeed a flight risk.

Although not required to plead yesterday, the man said he was innocent of all charges and wanted to prove this when the trial started.

He claimed he was also not capable of rape as he was impotent and said he was deeply religious.

The man arrived in the dock clutching a Bible and said he had even managed to convert eight suspects in the holding cells to Christianity when he last came to court.

Investigating officer Constable Linda Tele, of the Family, Child and Sexual Offences Unit said the children claimed they had been raped between December last year and July this year at the man’s home.

He denied the allegations and had a witness, Marie Peens, testify that she had lived with him for several months and had never seen the girls in his rented flat.

The state claims he took one young girl into his bedroom and raped her and gave her R20 afterwards.

It is also claimed he stripped naked in the lounge of his flat and got several girls to massage him before calling others into his bedroom where he raped them on another occasion.

The man was remanded in custody and will appear in court again on October 20. —