"My son isn't a rapist, he made a mistake" when you're White you get away with it. This interview must be taken down."
"I'm sorry to the little girl's parents & little girl."
"Why is @SABCNewsOnline humanizing Nicolas Ninow???? He’s a rapist."
These are just some of the comments on social media after SABC news anchor Chriselda Lewis shared a snippet of an exclusive interview she conducted with Chantal Ninow following her son's conviction.
Below, Carol Bower - a consultant on child's rights and director of the Peace Centre - weighs in on the debacle.
"Aside, from anything else, the Ninow story is proof positive of why we have to change childhood. The mother is clearly wallowing in guilt about how she raised her children (or failed to do so).
"Maybe we should start thinking about holding parents responsible for their adult children’s ‘mistakes’. But then I bet dollars to donuts, her own childhood story is just as horrific. And so the cycle goes on, endlessly, around and around and around.
"Of course, Ninow’s mother going on national TV is going to have a very negative effect on the family of the victim. And these wounds are not that old.
"It’s going to make the family’s recovery much more difficult. I do know that the child protection system completely failed this victim, and had the parents not been able to afford private support and counselling, the prognosis for the little girl and her family would have been even worse.
"I hope that there is someone to help them through this latest body-blow."
*Carol Bower is the director of Peace Centre. She specialises in children's rights, law and policy development, child abuse and neglect prevention*
**The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Media.**