Rape at Dros Watermeyer – The child safety questions they refused to answer

One must readily admit, without even a moment of hesitation, that the trauma a young child experienced on Saturday cannot, in any way, be comprehended by those of us who don’t have first-hand knowledge of the terror, confusion, panic and physical violation of rape. This is to say nothing of the mental violation a child, who has a right to safety, will have to endure throughout life. An entire world, one can only imagine, was shattered in just a few horrific minutes.

The reason I went to Dros was to ask questions, questions that need thorough answers.

Criticism of the Dros

Dros has been heavily criticised for their handling of the so-called “incident”. Eusebius MacKaiser’s outrage over the restaurant chain’s official statement should be felt across South African society. If one were to read the statement without prior knowledge of the rape, it would be impossible to infer that a crime of the most reprehensible kind was committed by a sexual predator of the most dangerous variety. This situation was only compounded by a Facebook post (appearing on the Dros Restaurant and Wine Cellar account) that advertised free meals for kids the day after the “incident” had occurred.

The layout

At first I simply wanted to get a sense of the place, specifically the relation between the play area and the toilets where the rape was committed. All one has to do is exit the play area’s open doors, pass two tables – perhaps a distance of ten metres along a wall – and disappear behind the bathrooms’ doors.

The play area has a pizza oven at the entrance, increasing traffic through the area, surely making exit and entry an inconspicuous matter. This inconspicuousness is enhanced by the fact that the area opens onto an open plan floor containing many tables; that is, the buzz of traffic and activity on a Saturday could well camouflage the movements of a predator who, with malice and considerable forethought, executed his plan.

The deafening silence

The Citizen reported that,

[On 24 September] Dros management refused to comment and hung up abruptly. On the second attempt, they asked that enquiries be made to Dros head office today [25 September].

Given the Dros’s official statement, an attempt to obtain a comprehensive response to the above would – perhaps – be less than fruitful.

At the eatery, I identified myself as a journalist and asked to speak to the manager. The staff approached the relevant individual three times, and each time I was told that the manager would be right with me. I waited an hour and half, without moving from my chair. I saw a woman with a crisp white shirt and black pants walk around the restaurant several times, passing by me on more than one occasion. It was later confirmed that she was indeed the manager.

The questions I wanted answered were simple:

• How many tables are in the eatery (what is its capacity)?
• How many child minders were charged with watching over the children?
• What training – and how extensive – had they received?
• Had they had training concerning the tactics used by sexual predators?
• Were they fully informed about the potential weaknesses in this specific restaurant?
• Why wasn’t the movement of children and adults fully controlled by a system that ensured child safety (for example, magnetically controlled doors)?
• What measures will Dros take to truly safeguard children in the future, including all its various other branches?
• And again, how many child minders were on duty?

The right way to do things

In contrast, the Social Development Minister’s official statement showed sympathy for the victim and her parents, and is quoted in full below.

Returning to MacKaiser’s outrage, it does, beyond doubt, seem that South Africa is indeed not a country for the most vulnerable amongst us – children.

Social Development Minister Susan Shabangu, through NERT,  has made a breakthrough  in making contact with the family of a 6 year old who was raped on Saturday in Pretoria.

 

NERT is a group of counselors funded by the national department of Social Development to provide debriefing and counseling to urgent matters such as the shocking and very sad Pretoria rape case.

 

Also, Minister Shabangu raised serious concerns on the alleged reports that say a day after the incident, there was a call for kids to come eat for free.

 

‘We will follow up on the matter because we have to find out what were safely measures put in place by the restaurant before they made a call for children to come have a meal?’

 

The unfortunate incident didn’t happen at the child’s home.

 

‘Our children are under siege. We can’t further put their lives in danger by failing to question and ask for accountability when it appears that outlets put profits first.

The unfortunate truth of the matter is that child rape is not a rare occurrence in South Africa, and it should certainly receive more attention than it currently does. Whereas the Dros sexual assault of a minor is beyond heart-breaking, many others are overlooked by the public – every day. The question we ask you, then, is: what can we all do to prevent tragedies like this from occurring in future?

One fundamental lesson would be that we can never be too cautious when it comes to child safety. Please approach Child Line for further information (call: 0800 55 555), and report all concerns to the South African Police Service.