About 150 Dunoon and Joe Slovo residents marched, last Friday, against the abuse of women and children.
The protest, which followed a series of sexual assaults on children in the area, was organised by Ilitha Labantu, a non-profit organisation, and it saw the residents march from Dunoon taxi rank to Joe Slovo Park and on to Koeberg Road.
Last Friday, a 40-year-old Dunoon man was sentenced to life in prison for the rape of a minor and a further 10 years for attempted murder because he infected her with HIV.
National Prosecuting Authority spokesman Eric Nadabazazila said the man was due to return to court to face charges of raping another minor while out on bail for the first rape.
“While he was out on bail for the first crime, he was living with his brother. He allegedly raped his brother’s 9-year-old daughter and will appear at the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court on November 6,” he said.
Ilitha Labantu spokesman Siyabulela Monakali said there were six other cases of children being sexually assaulted in Dunoon this year.
“We have a deep dissatisfaction with the way at which rape cases are handled by the justice system. We are making a call for an element of urgency when it comes to these cases,” he said.
Meanwhile, a 61-year-old Joe Slovo man accused of raping three girls aged 6, 7 and 8 was denied bail last Thursday and remains in Pollsmoor pending his next court appearance on February 27 next year, according to Milnerton SAPS spokeswoman Captain Nopaya Madyibi (“Protesters vow to stop bail for child rape accused,” Tabletalk, October 25).
Joe Slovo resident Andiswa Mqhele, who was at the protest, said: “Dunoon and Joe Slovo face similar challenges in terms of poverty, crime and a lack of basic services. So I was moved so much when I saw people from both communities coming together and taking a stand against the same thing. We cannot allow criminals and predators to destroy our communities.”
