Step-daughter (10) kept as ‘sex slave’

A VERULAM man is alleged to have held his 10-year-old step-daughter captive in their home, used her as his sex slave and prostituted her to other men in order to supplement his income.

The child was also allegedly subjected to sexual acts with sex toys.

The 43-year-old mechanic was apprehended by security company Reaction Unit SA (Rusa) on Monday night, after a resident noticed used condoms inside his home.

He was allegedly assaulted by community members and taken to hospital – from where he later escaped. He was re-arrested on Tuesday. The child was taken to a place of safety.

According to Rusa’s Prem Balram, when the resident questioned the child, she told her she was being raped by her stepfather ever since her mother’s death five years ago.

“The child went on to explain that she and her stepfather had moved to Verulam from Johannesburg in December last year. He had sealed all the windows in their home and held her captive in the house while he was at work.”

Balram said he also allegedly did not enrol her in school, so that she would not tell anyone about the rape and abuse she was going through.

“He had also asked her to sleep with other men to subsidise his income as a mechanic. At approximately 5.38pm the man returned from work, and was confronted by the community. When he attempted to flee, he was surrounded and severely assaulted.”

Balram said when residents entered his home they found several sex toys, lingerie and pornographic videos.

“The child said that the sex toys were used on her.”

SAPS spokesperson Colonel Thembeka Mbhele confirmed that a case of rape and sexual assault had been opened by Verulam police.

“The matter has been transferred to Phoenix FCS for investigation. The stepfather was arrested for repeatedly raping a 10-year-old victim in Verulam. He will be charged and will appear in court soon.”

Bobbi Bear, an NGO that works with sexually abused children, said it was “deeply sickened, saddened but more angry” at the alleged incident.

“We work with the rape of children daily; there is nothing more horrifying than the very people who are supposed to protect and love a child committing a crime like this, and actually getting away with it for so long,” said its director, Eureka Olivier.

“Where is the rest of the family – granny, aunties, uncles? Why did no-one ever question the whereabouts of this little girl? Surely over five years someone noticed that something was wrong… It is beyond disgusting.”

KZN MEC for Social Development Weziwe Thusi said she had heard of the alleged incident. “I would like to urge the community of Verulam not to take violence into their own hands and to let police pursue the case.”

THE life of a child can be a tragic one. Children should be most safe in their homes, schools and local communities, but as Social Development Minister Susan Shabangu says, that’s where most violence against them happens.

Equally tragic is that this violence is mainly perpetrated by those closest to the child.

South Africa’s child homicide rate is double the global average, according to the minister, with nearly half of all child homicide cases due to abuse and neglect.

Teenage boys (15-17 years old) are more likely to be killed outside their homes in conflict with their peers or as a consequence of gang violence.

During Child Protection Week recently, Shabangu said it is therefore of great importance that every person takes up the responsibility daily to protect children and play their part in contributing to a South Africa where all its citizens can live in safety, peace and harmony.

“Children need special protection because they are among the most vulnerable members of society. They are dependent on others – their parents and families – for care and protection.”

Logan Naidoo, president of Chatsworth Child Welfare, agrees. “We have been going to all the schools in Chatsworth running awareness and education programmes on neglect and abuse. Our philosophy is always to start as early as possible with children. In a number of instances, children as young as 2 to 5 have been abused.”

Naidoo said they target clinics and primary schools to identify abuse and deal with it head-on.

Children are the victims of crime, as was 9-year-old Shallcross girl Sadia Sukhraj, who died after being shot in a hijacking recently.

That same week, two young children witnessed their father being shot dead in an attempted hijacking.

Naidoo said that with Youth Day being commemorated this week, his organisation also wants to highlight the impact of crime on children.

“We are hosting a massive march from Child Welfare Chatsworth to the Chatsworth police station to highlight the issues of crime, child abuse, drugs, and safety and security with specific reference as to how it affects our community at large and our children in particular.”

Mayke Huijbregts, chief of social policy and child protection at the South African Human Rights Commission in KZN, which held workshops in Shallcross recently to empower locals with information that will enable them to identify human right violations and to access justice, said it is only by “standing up and being united” that the scourge of violence against children can be combated and for a safe home and school created for every child so that they can grow up without

With one in three children experiencing violence before the age of 18, including physical and sexual violence, and more than 50% of them affected by violence more than once, child protection measures are needed now more than ever, reports JANINE MOODLEY

feeling scared and unsafe.

Social Development Deputy Minister Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu, however, blamed alcohol abuse for the violence on children.

“We can’t talk about child protection until we sort out the issue of alcohol abuse; (at) the heart of alcohol abuse is also the abuse of children.

“Sometimes the school is safer than the home, so until we actively deal with the issue of alcohol abuse, we will never be able to deal with the realities of protecting children because those who are supposed to protect them are always drunk, reneging on their responsibilities to protect the children.”

Parents also need to protect their children while driving, as all too often unrestrained kids are seen sitting on laps or in the front seat despite being too young.

The Road Traffic Management Corporation raised their call on stakeholders and parents to invest in child seats or restraints, and municipalities to provide speed traffic calming measures around schools to reduce the number of children dying on South African roads.

Spokesperson Simon Zwane said infants and children need child restraint systems that accommodates their size and can adapt to cope with the different stages of their development.