Within minutes of being cross examined on Friday, 16 February, a 40-year-old man accused of raping and molesting several of his family members, including his own daughter, was fuming at the state prosecutor.
This man is facing dozens of charges of rape, spousal abuse and child molesting dating from as far back as 2002, and appeared in the Sexual Offences Court on Friday for cross examination by state prosecutor, Adv Tracy Keen-Horak. Tempers apparently flared up within minutes and the magistrate called for a short break.
When the hearing resumed, the father of four still appeared flushed. He denied that his wife was 15 years old at the time they met or that he had had intercourse with her at that age. He claimed not to know what the legal age limit is to have sex with a girl.
He also denied having raped and molesting his wife’s 14-year-old sister who was living with them in a caravan in Rustenburg in 2002.
Adv Keen-Horak asked if he has a problem with gay women, because he referred in Afrikaans to his sister-in-law and other women in derogatory terms, such as 50/50s, lesbians and “skeef”. She asked if he was familiar with corrective rape.
When she told him that his sister-in-law claimed she was not gay at the time when he raped her, he said she has always been different and had been in a relationship with a woman at that time.
Adv Keen-Horak accused the man of telling elaborate stories every time he was asked a question in an attempt to evade the direct answer.
“You want us to believe that you are innocent and you are trying to boost your own ego,” she said.
After less than an hour, the case was postponed so the court could review the transcripts of the man’s testimony he had given on 9 February.
The trial will resume on 16 March.
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