Cape Town - The small town of Ceres, still reeling after the rape of a seven-year-old boy and a four-month-old baby, has been hit by another wave of sexual violence: two more rape cases and the sodomy of boys have been reported there in the past two weeks.
Community policing forum spokesman Jan van der Merwe said a 20-year-old woman and a schoolgirl had been raped after the rape of the two children.
And he warned that the number of sex crimes, especially rape, was on the increase there.
“We usually deal with alcohol and drug-related crimes like theft and domestic violence. But there has been a growing trend of more serious crimes like rape, which are mostly focused in and around the farming areas.”
Police spokesman Colonel Thembinkosi Kinana confirmed that the two boys were reportedly sodomised, but said there was no positive medical evidence. The boys and their parents had, however, received trauma counselling.
Xolile Siwangaza, chairman of the Ceres branch of Sadtu, charged that cases of sexual violence against children were taking place there on “an almost daily basis. Ceres has become a place where these things happen, but are rarely talked about. These cases are under-reported, but this horror has brought all of them to light. We must stand together and stop relying on the excuse of coming from a poor background. We must help one another and say every child is our child,” he said.
The body of a stillborn baby was also found at the entrance of a farm when residents saw it being eaten by crows. A case of concealment of birth was opened after an autopsy confirmed the baby had been stillborn.
Ceres, in the heart of the Cape Winelands, is a bustling hub; but less than 5km away, the horror rapes of the two children took place in the temporary relocation area of Vredebes.
Both families have since left Vredebes to stay with relatives on nearby farms. Locals said the seven-year-old boy had returned to school. The baby was being treated at Red Cross Children’s Hospital, where she was expected to remain to undergo reconstructive surgery.
The community of Vredebes is still struggling to come to terms with the horror. Resident
Mina Haartnet said she knew the boy well.
“It could easily have been any one of our children… we didn’t take notice until after the rapes,” she said.
The wendy house from which the children, who are not related, were taken remains unoccupied with a lock on the front door.
Van der Merwe said residents of a nearby farming community had tipped off police as to the whereabouts of the 25-year-old accused. But the outraged community attacked him anyway. Some claim if police had not arrived when they did, he may not be alive. The suspect was taken to Worcester hospital for treatment.
He appeared briefly in the Ceres Magistrate’s Court on Friday for a bail application, which was postponed to September 11.
Dozens of community members stood outside the court, calling for justice. Some demanded that the suspect be turned over to the community to be punished, others said they wanted him castrated.
Jan October said the community was demanding to know how the children were taken.
“There are rumours that the parents… were drinking with the suspect… People need to pay more attention to the children. A few weeks ago, two children wandered off from one of the farms and were found a day and a half later.”
Since the incident, floodlights have been installed at Vredebes, and
Van der Merwe said they were working on organising a community watch to patrol the area.
Weekend Argus