Three women who survived the horrific gang rape in Krugersdorp said they had been brutally hurt by Police Minister Bheki Cele questioning how they had managed to escape the brutal gang rape.
The women, who spoke to The Star on condition of anonymity, said that they were afraid to leave their homes because of the suggestion that they could have been involved in the attacks on the eight women who were raped at a mine dump last week.
The women told The Star that the police had been unsympathetic and questioned how they had managed to avoid being raped while eight other women were raped.
A 20-year-old white woman who was part of the crew that was shooting the music video said she had thought that she would be among those to be raped. Much to her surprise she was spared.
“They hit me and told me to lie on the floor. I had to watch them rape all the other girls,” she said. The young woman, who was with her mother on the set, said the men were “enjoying” themselves while raping the women.
“When I close my eyes I can still hear the sound of the men enjoying themselves, and how they smothered the mouths of the other girls so they could not make noise,” she said.
The survivors told The Star that the horror started at about 5pm when they were leaving the set of the music video shoot. They were robbed by a group of Zama Zama’s who spoke Nguni languages. The first group of robbers only wanted material goods.
But a second group speaking Sesotho arrived and became violent when they could not find much to steal. The women were called names like “baby” and “lerato laka”. They were then raped at the same time.
“I think the only reason I made it was because I had to translate for them. They were impressed that I was white and spoke Zulu,” a second survivor said.
The 40-year-old woman said the fourth survivor was an Indian who was not raped because she was told that she was ugly. She was beaten up and sworn at instead.
“They took the other Indian young lady and they said they wanted the older one to witness the rape,” she said.
According to the survivors, out of the eight women who were raped there were four who were the favourites. They were also raped by the second and third group of men.
“I did not know what to say to them. What breaks my heart is that I feel guilty for being spared,” she said.
The third survivor told The Star that she was called “magogo” by the assailants. They put her in her car while the other women were being raped near the scene of the music video.
“When I was sitting in the car I was just waiting for my turn because I knew what could happen,” she said.
The survivors said they felt betrayed by law enforcement and misinformation around the matter.
The Star understands that the Nigerian embassy had stepped in to protect the Nigerian men who were part of the film crew. The men had been stripped and beaten, and one of them had to watch his South African wife being raped. The men were in hiding and were scared of reprisals.
Gender activist Olebogeng Moemisi said she was shocked at the manner in which the Minister of Police had questioned how the survivors were not raped.
Moemisi said the manner in which the police were handling the matter was sparking xenophobic tensions and dividing the country between racial lines.
“Whether someone is black or white, no one deserves to be raped. I do not think that it’s fair to question why the men were only stripped and beaten,” Moemisi said.