Teenage girls, some as young as 15, are being exploited for sex at a house in Parklands, according to the SA National Civic Organisation (Sanco).
Sanco says it knows who the men are behind the underage-sex ring and, during a peaceful protest by some 60 of its members outside Table View police station on Monday, it urged the authorities to arrest them.
Sanco stepped in to help the girls and their families after videos and voice clips did the rounds on social media two weeks ago, according to the organisation’s provincial co-ordinator, Buntu Gwija.
The girls, from Milnerton and surrounding areas, told Sanco they had been paid up to R1 500 in cash and clothing in exchange for sex, he said.
In a voice clip, which Tabletalk has a copy of, an unidentified girl can be heard crying while another describes “partying” with men who bought them alcohol.
In the clip, the girl can be heard saying that they were not aware that the men wanted to have sex with them but they were offered money in return for sex.
In a video sent to us, a girl of about 16 is seen naked and told by a man to get a condom while another naked girl of about the same age steps into the room as the video cuts off.
Tabletalk has been unable to interview the girls in either of the clips, verify their ages and identities or the authenticity of the clips.
Mr Gwija said one of the girls in the video had told him she had been paid for sex by two men who Sanco says it has since identified.
According to Mr Gwija, concerned mothers contacted Sanco to help them find the “men who did this to their daughters”.
He said the girls claimed they would get paid for having sex with the men and then get paid if they recruited their friends.
“These girls were staying absent from school to go to this house in Parklands and admitted that they lied to their parents,” he said.
The South African Youth Council and the EFF have joined Sanco’s call for the authorities to arrest the men.
“We have handed in the names of the suspects, given to us by the victims and we are hoping that the police will do their best to bring justice to those affected by this barbaric crime,” said Mr Gwija
He said they wanted the Table View police to use all their resources to investigate the case.
Sanco and the EFF had laid an official complaint with Table View police on Thursday May 12 but they planned to provide more evidence, he said.
EFF Western Cape spokeswoman Andiswa Madikazi called on the police to “arrest the rapists who are violating the bodies of young girls and women”.
Communities should help to protect children from falling into the hands of sexual predators, she said.
Table View police spokeswoman Captain Adriana Chandler confirmed that Sanco had laid charges against two men on Thursday May 12 and an inquiry was registered.
She said because there were no victim details to investigate the inquiry was sent to the provincial Family, Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS) Unit.
Provincial police spokesman Colonel Andre Traut said the FCS Unit was investigating the matter.
“Due to the sensitive nature of sexual offences, the finer aspects of our investigation cannot be disclosed,” he said.