‘We want to stop him ruining lives’
Netball coach accused of sexually assaulting student
SHEREE BEGA
SITTING in her car outside the Alexandra Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday morning, Samantha Morgan* felt her anxiety deepen.
Morgan, a single mother of three, had barely slept, bracing herself for another court appearance of the former Bryanston High School netball coach accused of sexually assaulting her daughter when she was 16 and 17.
“There’s so much anxiety, it’s all the unknowns. It’s the anxiety of coming to court and having to face them ... Sometimes, you just think, oh please Lord this is too much.”
Soon after Morgan stepped in the courtroom on Tuesday, joined by the usual team from Women and Men Against Child Abuse (WMACA), the matter was postponed again until August 24.
In the last 18 months, the criminal case has been postponed around 12 times, she said. “Honestly, this time I didn’t have any expectations purely because of the disappointment of the previous four times we went to court.
“There were those times where there was a bit of hope and then it was taken away the next time we went to court.
“I feel so disappointed and almost depressed at the appalling way this is being dealt with. The people who are fighting for us and trying to be a voice for us, are actually not. That’s the hardest thing.”
The accused, who has still not pleaded and cannot be named, was arrested in January last year when Morgan and her daughter opened a criminal case against him. It is alleged
that he sexually abused young girls on school property and on school tours.
He was dismissed in March last year after a disciplinary panel found him guilty of sexual harassment. Two other victims came forward but did not pursue the matter criminally. Morgan and her daughter did.
“We know the reason why we wanted to do this – purely because we want him to stop hurting anybody else,” she said. “Justice is a part of the process, but it’s ultimately about having some kind of voice, which is
something we haven’t had at all in the last 18 months. It’s about stopping him from ruining lives.
“Over many years too many lives have been damaged and the children have to live with this for the rest of their lives. It doesn’t go away.”
Her daughter, she said, is very “strong and brave”. “I’m very proud of her.”
There’s little clarity on the way forward, however. “The communication from the state has been appalling, to say the least. You go in with hope
every month, feel positive and then, literally the door just gets slammed in your face.
“If he wants a three-month postponement, he gets it, and he has had multiple representation.
“He is getting what he wants but we’re being silenced and are not considered in the decisions being made for each postponement ... It’s this revolving process, literally a whirlwind of trauma, and we’re just constantly getting re-traumatised.
“There’s never a question of ‘how do you feel? Is it okay if we postpone?’ It’s just oh well, ‘we’re postponing to this date’. I haven’t really argued or pushed but when I have asked questions, I’m told it’s his right by the people who are fighting for us.
“I do feel like the system has silenced us. We’re just not getting to a place where we’re able to be heard ... for my daughter to heal.”
The justice system seems flawed and one-sided. “But I really do believe that we need to follow through with the process regardless of it letting us down. I need my daughter to believe she does deserve closure, that she does deserve to fight for something she knows is right.”
Luke Lamprecht, of WMACA, said Tuesday’s postponement during Child Protection Week was unacceptable.
“I was so deflated, moving between total despair and outright rage. When President Ramaphosa says it’s Child Protection Week and gives his fivepoint plan to put victims at the centre ... none of that is seen in reality in the lives of the children we deal with.
“The truth is that the system is not victim-friendly, it’s totally offender focused. Every process that we have been through thus far in this case, has been at the behest of the defence. It’s a disincentive for people to report.
“What is also significant to note is that the victim is now an adult so any protections in the court she would have been afforded in terms of giving evidence as a child, that is not available any more.
“This wouldn’t have happened if there weren’t all these postponements, which have all been at his behest.”
*Not her real name