- A City official, aged 54, was arrested on Friday for the rape of a girl.
- The 13-year-old girl was allegedly raped over a period of three years.
- The man remains in custody ahead of his bail application.
A City of Cape Town employee, who was reportedly a former Umkhonto weSizwe commander, appeared in the Mitchell’s Plain Magistrate’s Court on Monday for the rape of a 13-year-old girl.
The 54-year-old man, who cannot be named until he has pleaded, was arrested on Friday in Strandfontein, police spokesperson Colonel Andre Traut confirmed.
Netwerk24 reported that the man was an Umkhonto weSizwe commander on the Cape Flats but that he now works as a senior manager for the City of Cape Town.
According to Daily Voice, the girl was allegedly raped over a period of three years and the family told the publication that doctors confirmed the girl had been repeatedly raped and sodomised.
She reportedly told a friend last week about what had been happening. She said she never spoke out as she feared there would be “fights”.
The man started spending much time at the family’s Strandfontein home, her father told the publication.
According to the child, earlier this month the man forced himself on her while she was drying the dishes. She reportedly used a fork to stab him.
National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson in the Western Cape, Eric Ntabazalila, confirmed that the man was in custody and would return to court on 29 June for a bail application.
Meanwhile, the City said it was considering the man’s immediate suspension, pending the outcome of his bail application.
“The City is considering immediate suspension subject to the bail application. Should the bail application be granted, then the City will serve the employee with immediate suspension proceedings,” City spokesperson Priya Reddy said on Monday.
“While the suspect is in police custody the City does not have to suspend the employee as such imprisonment is automatically without pay/benefits.”
– Compiled by Tammy Petersen and Paul Herman
