Social Development MEC Albert Fritz has accused police of not acting quickly enough to arrest a man accused of multiple child rapes and abductions in Khayelitsha, saying if the incidents had occurred in a wealthier neighbourhood top police would have been sent in.
The suspect was arrested a week after Aviwe Speelman’s body was found in the Monwabisi Park bush in Harare on September 13. She had been strangled and raped.
A 26-year-old man was arrested on September 20. Police later linked him to 22 abductions and 21 rapes. Police said the cases dated back to last April.
Fritz said the link should have been made sooner.
“Police must do proper investigations. There’s a perception that if it happens in Khayelitsha, it’s okay. But if it had been in an affluent area, police would have sent in top officials to sort it out,” he said.
Fritz and Community Safety MEC Dan Plato will be part of a crime summit to be held in Khayelitsha on Friday.
Topping the agenda would be the spate of child abductions, murders and rapes, said Plato.
Some incidents in greater Cape Town involving children include:
l Last Wednesday the body of a newborn was found dumped in a rubbish bin on the corner of Parliament and Darling streets in the CBD.
l Last Tuesday Zakhona Qhayi, 8, was found murdered in bush near her home in Harare.
l On the same day, a baby with his umbilical cord still attached was found in a plastic bag in Philippi.
l On October 7, toddler Athenkosi “Lovey” Nkone’s body was found in a suitcase in a Gugulethu shack.
Plato said he was not happy about the state of affairs, and the killing was spiralling out of control.
On the dumping of babies, he said many alternatives were available to parents. “There are rehabs, clinics, safe houses. But people are not going for assistance. Instead they dump their babies,” he said.
Cape Town Child Welfare chief executive Niresh Ramklass said the number of children being dumped had decreased since last year. At the time there had been lots of intervention. But the tide was turning again and the numbers were beginning to climb.
Zodwa Magwaza, ANC spokeswoman on social development in the Western Cape provincial legislature, said if all babies were formally registered at all hospitals and clinics, it would be more difficult to dump them. Their mothers could also be traced faster.
“As a caring society, we cannot throw away our future generations like rubbish,” she said.
Cape Town Child Welfare also said sexual abuse cases, which included rape, seemed to be up since the last financial year. In the last month, 38 cases were reported.
Plato said child rapes and murders had to be dealt with as a society.
“We can’t have officials on every corner. There is a huge responsibility that rests with the neighbours and the family,” he said.
He said he found it strange that when Aviwe was abducted from her yard, raped and killed, nobody noticed. “I walked the path to the bushes. She was dragged for more than 700m. I can’t understand why nobody asked questions.” - Cape Argus