A Nigerian man who lives in Gamalakhe appeared in the Port Shepstone Magistrate’s Court on a rape charge on July 20.

It is alleged that he raped a girl, aged nine, also of Gamalakhe.

The case was postponed to July 27 as the accused said he cannot speak any South African languages and needs a translator who can speak the Igbo language.
He has been remanded in custody.

According to the victim’s grandmother, her granddaughter went missing for over five hours last Thursday.
She said the girl’s mother had sent her to a relative’s house not far from their home, however, she had not returned after an hour.

“Her mother went to look for her at the relative’s house and was told she had left for home. She asked around and went to a nearby spaza shop where the Nigerian man works, but was told no-one had seen her. Hours later she was found in the same shop drinking water.”

According to the grandmother, the girl was taken to Gamalakhe Clinic and later transferred to the Thuthuzela Care Centre in Port Shepstone.

Angry community members, the ANC Women’s League (ANCWL), and the March and March movement were in court to support the family.

ANCWL’s spokesperson in the region, Thobile Cele, said it’s strange that the accused cannot speak IsiZulu or English because he has lived in Gamalakhe for years.

“We know for a fact that he can speak and understand both languages because he has been renting from house to house in Gamalakhe. I cannot say how many years he has lived there, but it has been a long time.”

Cele added that the court should not give him bail.

“We raise our children and then they get abused. They grow up with such scars and how will they raise their children. It will come to a point where we will have generations of broken individuals.”

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