Foreign shop owner accused of sexual harassment

Members of Hlalanikahle were baying for a foreign shop owner’s blood, he narrowly escaped.
It all started on Saturday afternoon at about 16:00 when a nine year-old girl was sent to his shop.
The mother alleges that girl bought sweets from the shop after buying vegetables from the nearby stall. It is said that when the girl came to the shop she found a well-known man drinking alcohol inside the shop and he touched her breast. That was done twice according to the girl.

The shop that started the whole ordeal about the alleged sexually harassment rape of a nine year-old girl which later caused community members to allegedly damage his shop and assault him.

Community members of Hlalanikahle being addressed by Ward councillor Jappie Msibi who also came to the scene.

After that the girl bought sweets and the foreign shop owner refused to give her change. The girl said the shopkeeper kept on holding her hand. Later another foreigner came into the shop and touched the girl’s buttocks. After that the girl is said to have left the shop crying as she ran home.

When she reached home she relayed her ordeal to who father who accompanied her back to the shop in search of the suspect. They were told that he had already gone. After an hour both parents accompanied the girl back to the shop looking for the suspect. Again they were told that he was not in the shop, meanwhile community members gathered around the shop and took interest on what was happening in the shop after they saw the girl crying.

Blood stains on the ground after a foreigner was assaulted after being accused of touching a young girl’s buttocks.

The badly damaged foreigners shop after goods were removed and the owners left the area as well.

“The suspect was hiding in the shop behind a curtain. Another foreigner who looked older pleaded with us to go away while at the same time apologized. He told us that the suspect was new and he will talk to him. A large number of community members were already at the shop by then. They started assaulting the foreigners who fought back as well. We phoned the police and pleaded with them to come fast. They did not respond to our call. I phoned them twice but they did not come,” stated the mother of the child.

The mother said, after another community member had phoned the police they responded and came to the shop and by then the damage had already been done. The foreigner’s shop was allegedly damaged after a run in battle with community members.

The mother said she was accused by the police of instigating the fight but she claims that she took her child a few meters away from the scene.
The police are said to have stopped the fight and assisted in protecting the foreigners in packing their goods from the damaged shop. The shop remained closed for the day.

“My little girl was traumatised by the whole ordeal and yet I was accused of starting the fight. Nobody thinks about my girl who was sexually assaulted and we had moved away from the scene only the community members had a running battle with the foreigners and they were fighting back,” added the mother.

Community members being addressed after they had calmed down after allegedly damaging a foreigner shop.

Police vans parked near the crime scene in Hlalanikahle in Extension 3 after a nine year-old girl was allegedly touched on her breast and buttocks in an attempted rape. A battle broke out after that.

Ward councillor Jappie Msibi who also came to the scene promised to issue a statement relating to the incident.
There were allegations that the foreigners lost an amount of R3 000 during the commotion.
The mother said they have opened two cases of sexual harassment at the police.

Vosman police said they were investigating a case of sexual harassment through the Family Violence Child Protection Unit and no one has been arrested.