KZN date-rape drug dealers granted bail

Police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel TM Mabaso said police received a tip-off from the community and followed the suspects’ vehicle from Frere as it travelled from Ladysmith. The vehicle was stopped in Estcourt and police conducted a thorough search and found drugs inside the front seat, Ladysmith Gazette reported.

“The type of drugs found were Rohypnol tablets commonly known as ‘date-rape drugs’ which are estimated at a street value of more than R8 000,” added Mabaso.

He said the two suspects, Ricky Govender, 48, and Farhana Dawood Shaik, 50, appeared in the Estcourt Magistrates` Court on Tuesday and were granted bail. Police investigation still continues.

The Cluster Commander Brigadier Reynders said: “We commend the good work done by our officers as “drugs destroy our youth and community.”

Last Saturday, a Durban North resident in KwaZulu-Natal was allegedly drugged and raped.

Hayley, who wished to only give her first name, said she has been left shattered, shamed and disempowered after her drink was allegedly spiked by an unknown man at a bar with date-rape drug known as Rohypnol.

The perpetrator took Hayley to an uMhlanga flat, where he allegedly raped her. The victim woke up the next morning, naked and covered in bruises, with no memory of the events leading up to where she was.

“When I got to the bar, my friend told me she wouldn’t be able to make it. So I ordered a glass of wine and was going to go home after. I remember asking an elderly couple next to me to watch my table while I went to the loo. I came back, took another sip of wine and then completely blacked out,” she said.

The 43-year-old has been receiving counselling at the Jess Foord Foundation.

– Caxton News Service