Almost raped in the Oven
PAULSHOF - Shocking reports of violence and intimidation in the Clay Oven settlement on Witkoppen Road near Paulshof have surfaced.
A resident of the informal settlement, who wanted to remain anonymous contacted the Fourways Review about the intimidation she was experiencing daily in Clay Oven.
The 58-year-old, who works as a cleaner near the settlement, said that she had been too scared to speak out previously because the men who are intimidating the residents had threatened to burn down their shacks during the night.
According to the resident, women are being targeted and are becoming victims of theft, abuse and rape.
“The other night a man tried to force his way into my shack,” she said. “My door chain was too strong for him to break but I was so scared that he was trying to get in to rape me.”
The resident said that when she shouted at her attacker to ‘go away’ from behind the locked door and said that she was going to call the police, he threatened her by saying, “I’m not going to leave this Oven [Clay Oven settlement] until I do something to you.”
The resident suspects a particular group of men who recently came to the settlement.
“I know these men are illegals but they say that they’ve been living here for 20 years and that if they get sent back they will just come back here,” she said.
The resident said that the police had been conducting raids in the settlement but when the suspects see them they run into the bush and hide.
“I’m so scared of these people, but I just can’t stay silent anymore,” she said. “We can’t live the way we are living anymore.”
Captain Kym Cloete, head of communications for the Sandton police said the resident’s claims were being looked into by the station.
