Man in court for raping teenage boy

Women in Mthwalume came out in their numbers to the Umzumbe Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday, to oppose the bail application of a 46-year-old man currently in court for allegedly raping a 14-year-old boy earlier this month.

The man cannot be named at this stage.

The organisation, Women of uMthwalume said he had been allegedly raping the boy from January this year.

Chairperson of the organisation, Nombuso Sibisi, told Fever that the accused has allegedly raped five boys in the area.

For his third court appearance on Tuesday, residents were outside the court with placards which read: “Rapists must die, Justice for victims.”

“One of the victims is known to me and when I heard I met the family and confirmed it, however a case was not opened as the family feared for their lives. The accused in the matter threatens to kill the victims,” said Sibisi.

Sibisi said what worried her most was the fact that the man had been sentenced to 35 years imprisonment for a similar crime he committed before moving to Mthwalume, and that he was out on parole in April 2020.

“In November 2020, a woman told me that there is an ex-con who just moved in the area who has allegedly raped two boys. So, I went to one of the children and he confirmed that he had been sexually assaulted by this man. The problem was that the boy’s parents were scared and did not want me to take the matter any further. The second boy, I found, his parents had moved him to Durban for his safety. The social worker I spoke to said we cannot build a case since the mothers’ of the victims were saying that they are scared to do so,” said Sibisi.

She added that they are happy the one boy had the courage to come forward so that the man could be arrested.

Sibisi said: “On September 9, someone knocked on my door at around 8pm and it was the suspect. I asked him what did he want and he said he is looking for a boy and I told him there is no boy here. He forcefully came into the house looking for the boy and when I tried to stop him, he took out a weapon. The following morning, I received a call saying that he had been arrested for allegedly raping the boy he was looking for in my house.”

The Umzumbe Magistrate’s Court remanded the case for October 18 for further investigations, saying that the man will remain in police custody.

Meanwhile, Sibisi said on Sunday (October 2) there will be a big community meeting with the Mathulini Tribal Authority, Hibberdene and Port Shepstone SAPS, and social workers where these stakeholders will answer how the man was allowed to move into the area and what are they planning to do regarding such crimes.

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