Johannesburg - The Inkatha Freedom Party was shocked that a convicted rapist out on parole had been allegedly caught raping a 15-year-old girl in Soweto, the party said on Wednesday.
“The IFP (in Gauteng) finds this incident very distressing and sickening, especially on the eve of South Africa celebrating Human Rights Day,” the party said in a statement.
“South African citizens have become all to accustom(ed) to hearing stories of our women and children being raped and murdered.”
Warrant Officer Kay Makhubela said the girl was on her way home from school when the man, 30, allegedly took the girl, in uniform, to a nearby reservoir and raped her several times on Tuesday afternoon.
“Some people saw him and they called the police. He was caught.”
Police found he was out on parole and had been sentenced to nine years for a previous rape.
The man would appear in the Protea Magistrate's Court on Friday.
The IFP said the incident showed the weaknesses of South Africa's correctional system and the vulnerability of ordinary citizens to degenerate behaviour.
IFP caucus leader Bonginkosi Dhlamini said: “What saddens the IFP-GP (Gauteng province) the most about these depraved actions is that they seem to be taking place in the most unfortunate places for our young girls and women.
“It deeply worries me that our kids now grow up in an unsafe nation, filled with depraved males, who instead of being guardians of youth according to our Ubuntu system, now relish taking innocence from our youth.”
The party welcomed Gauteng legislature speaker's Lindiwe Maseko initiative of convening a dialogue on social cohesion and moral decay, which the IFP hoped would come up with programmes to deal with inhumane behaviour. - Sapa