Johannesburg - A Soweto mother is desperately seeking justice after she was allegedly sexually assaulted and threatened with a sjambok by men she believed were security guards at Jabulani Mall in Soweto.
Nokuthula Nkabinde alleged that she was made fun of by police officers at Jabulani police station when she opened a case following the incident on December 18.
The 52-year-old woman told The Star on Monday that she went to a clothing store at the mall in Soweto and had asked a security guard to hold her shopping items while she went to collect money.
“While I was speaking to the security guards, two saleswomen came to me shouting and accusing me of stealing during my last shopping trip,” she said.
Offended by the theft accusations and embarrassed, Nkabinde said she confronted the saleswomen before the employees allegedly threatened her with a sjambok and pushed her into an office.
The woman said that the sales assistants then entered the office with two men in tow whom she thought were security guards. She would later find out that the two men worked for another clothing store in the mall.
“One of them introduced himself to me as an acting supervisor and I was wearing a mask because of Covid-19, so he pulled the mask off my face and took a photo, saying the head office needed a photo,” Nkabinde said. She added that she resisted fighting with the men because she had already felt threatened by their presence and the sjambok.
According to Nkabinde, the man who claimed to be the acting supervisor left her in the room with the second man, while the store employees allegedly stood outside and laughed.
“He pushed me against the wall, placed one hand on my throat and started searching my breasts. He eventually went down to the underwear, inserted his hands and did what he wanted to do while I kept quiet,” she said.
Following her alleged sexual assault, the man left the room before the acting supervisor returned to ask her if she still wanted her shopping items held. However, Nkabinde said she no longer wanted anything.
Nkabinde said that following the traumatic incident, she went to the Jabulani police station to open a case but was told to return the following morning.
“I wanted to report the matter within 24 hours, so I woke up at 6am and returned to the police station, and the police said we were leaving to go and identify the man who assaulted me,” she said. However, the store was still closed at the time and the party was forced to go back later.
“We went back to Jabulani Mall and we found the men, but the police officers made fun of me and kept asking me how the man had grabbed me like it was a joke,” she said.
Gauteng provincial police spokesperson Captain Mavela Masondo confirmed that a case for sexual assault was opened at Jabulani police station and transferred to Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences.
“The docket was assigned to an experienced investigating officer, who obtained statements from the suspect and witnesses.
“The docket was taken to court where it was not put on the roll pending further investigation,” Masondo said.
The woman said that she was very hurt when the police officers allegedly made fun of her, because she had gone to the station seeking justice for what had happened to her. She added that since she opened the case there had not been any progress or updates for her case, despite sending a complaint to the station commander.
Masondo said that if Nkabinde is not happy with the station commander, she could escalate the matter to the District Commissioner of Johannesburg.
“The police management view the allegations very seriously,” he said.
The Star