Two little girls to give evidence in rape trial

● They were just five and six when abducted and violated – with one left for dead on a New Brighton dumpsite

Two little girls aged just five and six when they were abducted and raped, with one savagely stabbed and left for dead among the rubbish at a dumpsite, will have to relive their horrific ordeal when the trial of the man who allegedly kidnapped them continues later this week.

The abductions shocked the Port Elizabeth community in 2017, when the man, then 49, allegedly joined search parties to look for the children after they were reported missing by their families.

The state alleges the girls were lured to a shack in New Brighton where the man, who cannot be named until he has pleaded in court, was staying after he sent them to buy chips.

When they returned to the shack he was waiting outside for them and allegedly pushed them through the doorway.

It is claimed he made them sit and eat the chips before instructing them to strip naked, tying up their arms and stuffing cloths in their mouths.

He then allegedly raped them.

Though the trial was scheduled to start on Monday, the case was rolled over to Tuesday after the man, now 51, complained he was in pain and needed to see a doctor.

On Tuesday, while state prosecutor Megan September and the man’s defence council attorney Khaya Saziwa were in the judge’s chambers, the man sat in the dock and chatted to court officials while using an asthma pump.

In an apparent display of discomfort, the man staggered to his feet when ordered to stand as judge Bulelwa Pakati entered the court.

Saziwa said the man had been taken to a clinic on Monday before the start of the trial, but that the nurse who had examined him had not supplied a report on his condition.

“[The man] has been put on a list to see a doctor on Thursday,” Saziwa said.

His client was still in pain, Saziwa said, but he did not disclose the nature of the man’s pain.

The case was postponed to Friday to allow for a doctor to examine the man and give a full report to the court on his condition.

He has been charged with two counts of kidnapping, two of rape and one of attempted murder.

The girls’ names appear on the state’s witness list and both are expected to give evidence during the trial.

It is alleged that, after raping the girls, the man told the sixyear-old to get dressed and accompany him to the shop while he left the five-year-old still tied up in the shack.

While walking near the Ford Stadium, the man allegedly threw the six-year-old to the ground and attacked her, beating and stabbing her, and ultimately throwing her on a rubbish dump.

At the time of the September 21 2017 incident, it was reported that the six-year-old was found barely alive, about 1km from the man’s shack, shortly after midnight by community members who were frantically searching for her and her friend.

About 80 residents of the area – along with police officers, the K9 search-and-rescue unit, and a police helicopter – had combed a large area.

The girl had been stabbed several times in the face and head, and had a bloodied cloth wrapped around her neck.

Miraculously surviving the brutal attack, the little girl was able to tell the authorities where the man lived.

This led them to the other child, who was found at 5am.

She was still tied up when found.

Dr Anna-Louise Olivier, director of Uviwe Child and Youth Services, based in Schauderville, said the growing number of children, especially young girls, falling victim to heinous crimes including rape was concerning.

“It is difficult to say why these things happen.

“Whether it be the case of the perpetrator’s value system or the victim’s circumstances making them more vulnerable and susceptible to violence – it is not OK,” Olivier said.

Gender-based violence, and specifically violence against girls, was becoming the norm in vulnerable communities because women in those areas did not have a voice, she said.

“This makes it difficult for young girls to have a voice of their own,” she said.

Olivier said there were programmes in place nationwide to help young children, especially girls, pick up on early warning signs that something was not right and how best to protect themselves in dangerous situations.

“Nationwide there is the Protective Behaviours network which helps educate and inform young children and communities,” Olivier said.