South Africa: "child rape haven of the world"

Original Post Date: 2002-12-05  Posted By: Jan

From the News Archives of: WWW.AfricanCrisis.Org
Date & Time Posted: 12/5/2002 6:24:15 PM
South Africa: "child rape haven of the world"

Dated: November 18 2002 at 12:42PM
By Jani Meyer and Sapa

More than half the children referred for counselling at Childline’s
five centres in KwaZulu-Natal after being raped, sodomised or
sexually abused are under the age of seven.

This statistic was released on Sunday by Childline director Joan van
Niekerk as South Africa reeled after yet another horror story of a
baby being raped.

The two-year-old is dead.

‘People have a sense that it is not as bad as it really is’
She was raped and sodomised to such an extent she died from her
wounds.

But her killer is still walking free after alleged police bungling.

Thendo Nenzhelele of Limpopo Province died in March after being
sodomised so brutally that her wounds became septic.

Her attacker was never brought to justice after a policeman examined
her corpse and allegedly decided “nothing was wrong”.

Now Limpopo police say they will launch a full investigation into
the matter.

Medical staff could see inside her body
Reports like these are all too common, says Van Niekerk.

About 10 percent of all reported rape cases in South Africa involve
children under the age of 11, and more than half of rape victims are
younger than 19.

Van Niekerk said media attention helped to bring perpetrators to
book.

“People have a sense that it is not as bad as it really is,” said
Van Niekerk.

The government’s preliminary report on rape, leaked to the press
last week, has resulted in political parties branding South Africa a
“paradise for rapists” and calling for a “rethink on strategy”.

The study, by the national departments of health, safety and
security, and social development, along with the National
Directorate of Public Prosecutions, revealed, among other things,
that only 7.7 percent of reported rape cases in 2000 had resulted in
convictions.

The Democratic Alliance’s Mike Waters said the figures implied that
“a person has a better chance of getting away with the rape of a
child than they do with a traffic violation”.

He said the report showed that a child was raped every 24 minutes
and more than 91 percent of child rapists got away with it.

The New National Party’s Sheila Camerer said while it was a “good
thing” that the investigation and report were undertaken, the
government’s response had been inadequate.

“Government needs to seriously rethink its strategy to combat the
rape and abuse of women and children, and to empower victims.”

The United Democratic Movement’s Annelize van Wyk said: “The UDM
repeats its call for a referendum on the death penalty. If the
people of this country favour this route, then child rape should
carry a death penalty.”

Van Niekerk said a major problem in bringing the rapists to book was
that if the rape was not reported immediately and the child
examined, it was difficult to determine whether the child had been
raped.

Another problem was the apparent reluctance of district surgeons to
confirm rape.

“We have asked the head of forensics to investigate district
surgeons who appear reluctant to confirm that a child has been
raped,” said Van Niekerk.

Little Thendo died after her wounds became septic.

Her anus and rectum were so severely injured and stretched that
medical staff could see inside her body.

Yet, 12 days ago, an inquest into little Thendo’s death found the
death “was not the result of an offence by any person”.

Limpopo police management at the weekend promised a full
investigation into the alleged bungle.

The head of the Thohoyandou Victim Empowerment Trust claimed that
the police handled her death with “the most disturbing lack of
professionalism, that borders on downright incompetence, compounded
by arrogance and insensitivity.”

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