Former mayor barred from contacting girl
Protection order issued to shield the 15-year-old
The family of a 15-year-old alleged victim of disgraced former Emfuleni mayor Simon Mofokeng yesterday welcomed the final order barring the mayor from making contact with them.
Yesterday, the Vanderbijlpark Magistrate’s Court confirmed as final an interim order instructing Mofokeng to refrain from contacting the girl.
“We are happy that the court granted this order. Our daughter has been left traumatised by this incident and this means that she will be protected by the law,” said the girl’s uncle.
He told Sowetan that they were waiting for Mofokeng to be officially charged for “sexual grooming and exposing their daughter to pornography”.
“Now that this step has been finalised, we can now concentrate and wait for the police to officially charge him for what he put our daughter through,” the uncle said.
Sowetan last week reported that Gauteng provincial commissioner Lieutenant-General Deliwe de Lange signed a preliminary investigation report which detailed explicit interactions between Mofokeng and the teenager.
In the report, Mofokeng allegedly sent the girl a picture of his private part and offered to “take care of her”, while also asking to meet with the girl.
Mofokeng arrived in court yesterday accompanied by his legal team. The 59-year-old rushed into the building through the back entrance. He was also escorted out of the court premises by police officers in a convoy.
“What this man has done is disgusting and we just want [the] justice system to prove that it does not favour the rich and powerful.
“We want to see ordinary people such as ourselves receiving justice,” the uncle continued.
Tensions were high as ANC Women’s League (ANCWL) and EFF members protested outside the court.
Masabata Mokone from the ANCWL in Sedibeng, said despite having shown Mofokeng support throughout his political career, he had overstepped the boundaries.
“Sy [Mofokeng] is a comrade that everyone looks up to but that didn’t give him the right to do what he [allegedly] did,” Mokone said.
“it’s important for us to also support the girl and her family because we understand how sensitive and serious this problem is,” she said.