Johannesburg - Peter Dashboy Khosa, accused of raping 29 children over five years, allegedly used kindness to win over his victims.
He pretended to need help and children would trust him.
Khosa would allegedly offer them money to keep them walking until they were tired and did not know where they were. Then he would assault and rape them.
Two children testified to this effect on Friday in the Johannesburg High Court sitting in Palm Ridge. A girl who was 10 at the time of the attack, said she was with a friend when Khosa approached them. He asked them to help him, his wife and child as they had to carry lots of parcels.
“We walked with him and he was nice to us. He was kind and came across as someone who needed help from us,” she said.
The children walked from Ivory Park to Olifantsfontein. Once they were deep in the bush, he allegedly ordered them to undress, tied their hands and threatened to stab them.
The girl said Khosa forced himself on her, but was unable to penetrate her and left.
The girls had met a man who helped them.
“He took us to Tembisa Hospital... He handed us over to the nurses and we also explained to them what happened.”
Another victim, who was 8 when she was attacked, told the court Khosa approached her and her two friends, asking for directions to a crèche. They offered to take him there. She said Khosa made them walk until sunset.
They were taken into the bush, where Khosa put a plastic bag and blankets on the ground and ordered them to sleep. She said she and one of her friends pretended to sleep but saw Khosa rape the third girl.
In the morning, Khosa took the child he had raped with him and told the other two to find their way home.
While walking, they came across a security guard, who took them to a hospital.
Khosa’s lawyer, Livingstone Nkuna, told the Xhosa-speaking girl his client could not have communicated with her and her friends because he spoke only Tsonga and a bit of English.
The child disagreed: “He was speaking isiZulu to us.”
Nkuna also said the investigating officer, a Captain Ramabale, had told her who to point out at the identity parade. The child denied this.
Khosa, who faces 152 charges that include rape, kidnapping and assault, pleaded not guilty.