Vagrants threaten women in CBD with rape and violence
“We were told not to worry. The men are apparently addicted to Nayope which causes impotence so the men will not get erections!"
SECUNDA – Women working in the Secunda CBD have to face rape and death threats daily as vagrants victimise them at their places of work.
“They threatened to rape us ‘like whores’,” said Ms Kaylene Oudtshoorn. She and her colleagues no longer go to the office early.
They wait in the Pick n Pay parking lot for other women working in the CBD and only head to their respective places of work at the very last moment in the hope that by that time, the homeless people who sleep in front of their stores had woken up and left.
The women previously asked the tramps to at least move out of the doorways and the areas allocated for customer service, such as ATMs, but this only fueled the men’s aggression towards the women.
“I fear it has become a personal vendetta against us. We have been pushed around, threatened with rape and assault, harassed and verbally abused. They know our movements, which cars we drive, our routes and our schedules and they boast with this knowledge. They sleep in the nude and have no qualms to display themselves to us in the morning.”
Ms Christelle van den Bergh from Old Mutual said the sleepers urinate in front of the office. “They have taken over. They even wash themselves in front of us. I do not even want to know where they defecate. ”
In a recent incident, hordes of tramps trapped a group of women in a passageway, hurling insults and smut at the women because they dared to complain to the authorities.
The women again went to the police station with a plight for help. “We were told not to worry. The men are apparently addicted to Nayope which causes impotence so the men will not get erections.
Also read: Signs and symptoms of the use of Dagga and Nyaope
“Another policeman said we can only be helped if we point out the men who threatened us. Are the police mad? We are scared! These men said if we complain, they will return with more men and rape and kill us.”
The Ridge Times walked through the CBD between 6.30am and 7.30am on Friday, 16 March and found numerous people sleeping in front of store entrances and any other crevice that can provide shelter. They were fast asleep in the entrance of the Cronje, de Waal and Van der Merwe Building, in front of Capitec Bank and in the entrance of Beares. Two of the men even used cardboard to barricade the ATM entrance at Capitec.
Several men – a few were evidently naked under their blankets – eventually woke from a security guard’s calls to get up. They were clearly annoyed by the reporter’s imposing camera and hollered curses and insults while packing up their belongings. One threatened to throw the ‘white dogs ’with a brick.
A security guard at a nearby bank also received a mouthful of threats. He has been witness to the harassment that the women have faced.
“Many people are sleeping here in the town, especially when it rains. I have seen men, women and children from all races looking for shelter in the CBD at night. Many are illegal immigrants,” said the guard who wanted to remain .
Several women ran past the reporter on Friday morning on their way to the new gym in the CBD. Other women were hiding in the gym’s entrance until the sleepers had vacated the area.
A Capitec customer stood with the reporter until it was safe to withdraw money from the ATM.
Capt Bettina Zondo, spokesman of the Secunda Police, said they are aware of the problem in the CBD.
“We are investigating the issue.”
Also read: Refuse in Secunda CBD piles up
