Kimberley - Residents of Club 2000 have petitioned the Department of Justice to deny bail to a 29-year-old suspect who is accused of repeatedly raping an elderly woman over the Easter weekend.
The group of furious residents filled the Galeshewe Magistrate’s Court for Monday’s first court appearance of the suspect, who cannot be named before he has pleaded.
He will be kept in police custody until his formal bail application on Thursday.
However, the protesters, led by the local branch of the ANC Women’s League (ANCWL), are demanding that he not be released on bail later this week as they believe that the Department of Justice (DOJ) needs to use this case to send a strong message that violence, especially against women and the elderly, will not be tolerated and offenders will be harshly dealt with.
While some members of the group expressed concern that the community might take matters into their own hands should the suspect be released, branch secretary of the ANCWL, Nomazizi Shwababa, said shortly after court was adjourned that their main goal was to see justice take its course within the court system.
“The 77-year-old granny is still extremely traumatised,” Shwababa said on Monday.
“We all are (traumatised) after what happened; and will be petitioning the DOJ to deny bail in order to make it quite clear that this type of behaviour will not be tolerated within our community or any other.
“We will be back here on Thursday and if bail is granted we will struggle to accept the judgment.
“It is still unclear what exactly happened that night but as we understand it, the accused allegedly raped the granny repeatedly throughout the night.
“When members of the community found her on Friday morning, she required medical attention and we immediately alerted Wanya Tsotsi who came to our assistance.”
Shwababa said that while this incident had rocked the community, it was the frequency of violent crimes in the area that truly had residents up in arms.
“We have had it up to here with the regular and violent crimes in our neighbourhood. This is not the first time that something like this has happened and unless we do something now it won’t be the last either.
“Criminals are coming from the shacks and terrorising our communities and something needs to be done about it.”
Police spokesman, Lieutenant Olebogeng Tawana, on Monday confirmed the incident.
“We confirm the arrest of a 29-year-old man who has been charged with rape. It is alleged that on March 25 between 3am and 4am he stormed into a house in which a 77-year-old woman was staying and raped her.
“He was arrested on Thursday last week. The investigation continues.”
DFA