ZELDA VENTER
Pretoria - The wife of the so-called Springs monster was dressed like a prostitute in black ripped pants, held together with safety pins and a skimpy top and appeared drugged, while her three small children clung to their elder sister in apparent fear in their filthy house.
This was the scene that met an assistant social worker when she visited the “house of horrors” in Springs on May 20, 2014.
After this date, four of the five children were removed from their parents’ care.
Jolene Fouche took the stand in the high court in Pretoria on Friday to testify in the trial of the parents. They are facing an array of charges, including the attempted murder of their son, 13.
It is also claimed that the pair neglected the children and that they were subjected to horrendous torture by their father, while their mother did nothing.
He is facing two additional charges (22 in total), including that he repeatedly raped his daughter, then 16 and that he sexually abused her.
Both pleaded not guilty and the illiterate mother said she was helpless to do anything to protect her children as she too was her husband’s victim.
According to her, he also demanded that she dressed up “like a prostitute”.
The horror tale came to light after the 13-year-old boy earlier fled the house after he was severely assaulted by his father and ran to the neighbours. They informed the police, who swooped on the house.
Fouche said that when she wanted to remove the children, an extremely aggressive father locked them up in his car.
When she arrived at the house, skimpy clothing and high-heeled shoes were scattered on the floor from the front door. She found four of the children on a filthy mattress in the lounge. The little ones, ranging from two to five years and looking terrified, were clinging to their sister, 16.
Asked why she did not go to school, the teenager wouldn't respond, in fear of her father.
Fouche confronted the mother, whose speech was slurred. “She said (her children) were home schooled. I asked her what is happening here. She was about to open her mouth, when she heard her husband’s voice in the passage. She had such a fright that she bolted out of the bathroom.”
Fouche said she bumped into the father in the lounge, who introduced himself as the mother’s brother. He insisted he didn't know where the 13-year-old was.
He maintained throughout that he was the brother.
“I told the mother I am taking the children away, but the father refused. He took them to his car outside and locked them in. One of the little ones cried and we begged him to open the car. He said he would drive them himself to our office, but we refused.”
The man eventually relented and Fouche took the mother and the children into her car. The man was terribly aggressive and was shouting. “He followed us to my office in his car and nearly ran me off the road.”
Social services placed the children in a place of safety.
Fouche said she was shocked at the filthy state of the house and explained how a rat ran across the feet of one of the SAPS members. She also counted 37 surveillance cameras erected in trees outside the house. In the main bedroom was a large television screen, displaying footage filmed outside.
The court was taken on a virtual journey through the house, by way of footage displayed on a screen in court. It was captured by a policeman and showed the dishevelled home, leading to Judge Eben Jordaan saying wryly: “It looks like a volcano or tornado ran through the house.”
In the children’s bedroom - apparently shared by all five - was a filthy base, with a mattress against the wall. There was no bedding or blankets. The court witnessed a cupboard in the main bedroom, where the two children who last week testified in camera, claimed they were stuffed into, while cuffed and tortured.
Included in the visual display, was a hole in a ceiling in an outside room, where the boy said his father occasionally stuffed him into.
While these visuals were displayed, the mother sat in the dock - apart from her husband - biting her nails. The man, clean shaven and neatly dressed, made notes on a notepad. During the tea break he joked and laughed with the handful of family members supporting him.
Pretoria News Weekend