Cape Town - President Jacob Zuma has intervened to ensure that state officials are held accountable after they failed to offer counselling to a 13-year-old girl who reported she had been gang-raped by 10 men.
Presidency spokesperson Bongani Ngqulunga said Zuma was “shocked and horrified by the despicable incident”.
The girl said she had been abducted at gunpoint by a man at about 8pm on November 11. He and nine other men then repeatedly raped her in three different shacks.
Her family said she had not received counselling from police or from the Social Development Department a week after the crime had been reported to them.
“He (Zuma) has instructed the ministers of Police, Social Development, Women and Health to attend to the matter urgently,” Ngqulunga said.
He added that the president had contacted the Police Ministry to enquire about the progress of the investigation, and would continue to follow up on the story with urgency.
The 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children campaign begins on November 25, and this is the second reported incident where police and government officials failed to act in a case involving the rape of a township teenager.
Earlier this year the Cape Times highlighted a case where police failed to properly investigate 19-year-old Sinoxolo Mafevuka’s rape and murder in Khayelitsha.
Mafevuka was found in a communal toilet after she had gone missing the previous night. Acting national police commissioner Khomotso Phahlane’s spokesperson, Selepe Mashadi, said he had compiled a report on the matter for the Presidency.
India Baird, founder of Rock Girl, which advocates for the rights and dignity of women, said it was very concerning to hear of the 13-year-old’s ordeal.
“Rock Girl sends our support to the girl. She needs to be treated with respect and dignity, and given immediate counselling, medical care and treatment, as well as safe housing, access to legal advice and an understanding of her rights. We stand by her,” Baird said.
Lydia Gillion, a former social worker who has worked for the police, said she heard what happened with great sadness.
“I will make sure a file is opened for the girl. I will give her all the support she needs,” said Gillion.
Seven suspects appeared in the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court last week in connection with the attack. Three others are still being sought by police.
The girl later left the house she shared with her grandmother to live with relatives. On Tuesday, she was taken to a place of safety.
Sihle Ngobese, the spokesperson for Social Development MEC Albert Fritz, blamed the police for not informing the department of the alleged rape, saying the office of Community Safety MEC Dan Plato has been asked to investigate allegations that police had failed to counsel the victim.
“Our social workers were never informed,” he said.
“Social workers were trying to establish the facts. They have had to do their own investigation,” said Ngobese.
On Monday, social workers visited the victim to provide her with counselling. Ngobese said when the trial starts “social workers will be supporting her throughout the court case”.
He said the department was guided by the Children’s Act, which requires action to be taken in the best interests of the child.
“We’d like to discourage anybody from making public statements on the alleged whereabouts of the girl, especially given an ongoing criminal case,” Ngobese said.
“This would not be in the best interests of the victim. The department will not hesitate to act against anyone placing the safety of this young girl at risk.”
Ngobese said: “I’m just reminding you to exercise extreme tact on how you report on this story, as there are major risks associated with reporting on a case like this when there is an ongoing court case.”
The girl does not attend school and is being raised by her pensioner grandmother in a dilapidated two-room RDP house in Samora Machel, Nyanga. Her family said she did not tell them where she was or what happened until she complained of stomach pains. They believed she was staying with relatives at the time of her ordeal.
Paramedics found she had been raped after they were called to the house on Tuesday. She was then taken to the police to lodge a criminal complaint.
The family said when she arrived from her ordeal, she had acted “strangely” and spent most of her time in bed.
Community leader Sithandiwe Dingana said it was best she had been taken to a place of safety to receive counselling and to prepare for the court case.
The men, who have not yet been asked to plead, will be back in court on Friday.
Cape Times