Sordid details of a Wynberg child-sex ring, involving boys and girls as young as 10 being recruited by a local shebeen from a place of safety, have emerged at a community meeting in Constantia.
Wynberg police commissioner Martin Swanepoel confirmed that a rape charge had been laid by a girl, but said police were waiting for other victims in the place of safety to press charges and shed more light on the alleged activities at a shebeen in Ebor Road, between Main Road and the railway line.
Accusations were levelled at the meeting, chaired by ward councillor Jonathan Hulley in the Alphen Centre on Wednesday night, that pre-teens, including at least one 10-year-old boy, were being lured from Tenterden Place of Safety in D'urban Road, Wynberg, to the shebeen where they were forced to have sex with customers for as little as R5.
Tenterden House manager Eugene Odendaal told the meeting the shebeen apparently doubled as a brothel and his charges had been "recruited".
He said that he had a problem with two young girls, who had willingly absconded to the shebeen and had tried to lure more children to the establishment.
An 11-year-old girl who had been referred to Tenterden by the juvenile court has been identified by other children in the home as a "recruitment officer" for the shebeen, said police who attended the meeting.
She allegedly sneaked back to the home periodically to lure young boys and girls to Ebor Road, promising them cash rewards.
Odendaal said he had stepped up control and "turned the corner" in his establishment, but the problem still existed in the broader community, where young children "from good homes" apparently worked in the brothel.
Hulley said the situation had shocked the community and he called for drastic action.
He did not blame Tenterden for the problem, but appealed to officials to step up control over children in their care.
Police, child protection officers, South Peninsula administration law enforcement officers and concerned community members at the meeting identified two adult suspects linked to the shebeen and vowed to clamp down on the alleged ring.
Hulley said the allegations of child prostitution came from several reliable sources.
A Wynberg resident at the meeting spoke afterwards on condition of anonymity.
She said she lived near Ebor Road and knew that the child prostitutes attracted a clientele from all walks of life, ranging from wealthy businessmen to soldiers from the nearby Wynberg base.
She did not know how much the clients paid for child sex, but the children had told her they got between R5 and R15 a customer.
About four children were being raped "night after night" by men old enough to be their grandfathers.
She said the children were being given drugs.
Hulley said he was particularly concerned about the children from troubled homes, who deserved love and care, but instead ended up in a seedy establishment being passed from one sex-hungry man to the next.
Swanepoel said the alleged victims were reluctant to speak after being threatened with death if they exposed the sexual activities at the shebeen.