BRACKENFELL
021 981 9877 Brackenfell Cape Town North Church service times: 08h30 & 10h30 & 18h00
www.rhemafamily.co.za
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E-pos: tyger@dieburger.com
Woensdag 22 Februarie 2012
Tel: 021 910 6500
Faks: 021 910 6501
DON’T SAY IT, SPRAY IT Idols sensations, Mark Hayes and Andriette Norman showed their support at Tygervalley Centre in aid of the Can cer Association of South Africa. ‘Dare your Hair’ sets the theme of the Cansa Shavathon at Tygervalley Shopping Centre. Join this event and show your support on Saturday, 3 March from 09:00 and 16:00 in the promotions court, lower level, Ty gervalley Centre. Dare your hair by either sha ving or spraying all in aid of Cansa.
) Mother reads daughter’s statement to court
Photo: Carina Roux
System failed victims DESIREÉ RORKE
Failed by the system and placed back into the clutches of a “monster” only to be abused over and over again. Two young girls were powerless while their father sexually exploited them for as long as they can remember, only to be saved after a friend broke the silence almost a year ago. The sentencing hearing of the man who stands accused of sexually assaulting and raping his two daughters and three of their friends, took place in the Blue Downs Regional Court on Wednesday last week. Called to the stand, investigating officer W/O Shireen Rodgers from
the sexual offences unit described this case as the worst she has ever came across in 16 years. “I will never forget the day we arrested him. The girls were dressed like prostitutes, in very high heels and inappropriate for their ages of 10 and 12. They each sat on one of his legs and he said to them, ‘Don’t worry papa is coming back’,” she testified at the hearing. According to her the sexual abuse was first reported to the authorities back in January 2010, more than a year prior to his arrest in May 2011. TygerBurger learned that the primary school the girls attended, reported the abuse after one of the girls told her teacher. According to Rodgers, the police and social workers were then involved and she cannot understand
how the children were placed back into the care of their father at that time. According to her the children’s mother and the family of the accused were well aware of what he had done to them. A confidential social report states the accused at this time underwent pastoral counselling, but admitted to a social worker that it wasn’t helping him. The children were nevertheless placed back in his care, after he “promised not to do it again”. Back home, the exploitation continued unabated for nearly another year during which three of the girls’ friends – all from broken homes – were also drawn into his net, to be raped and assaulted. According to Rodgers the authorities decided not to charge the moth-
Brackenfell Business Park Old Paarl Road
er of the children in May last year, as she herself was a minor when she got involved with the accused, and was suffering from alcohol dependency. “We could not traumatise the children more by taking their mother away from them as well,” she said. At the time of the arrest the mother had already separated from the accused. Rodgers continued to describe the case, saying it was even more appalling than cases of child trafficking. “These girls were given cigarettes and alcohol in order to lure their friends over, who were also abused. He used his own daughters in this regard. These children never had a childhood and the only
warmth they ever experienced was exploitation. They had a hard life,” she said. TygerBurger learned from a reliable source that he had also given them dagga to smoke, before committing the crimes, and making them watch pornographic films. According to Rodgers he was exceptionally crafty when grooming the children for abuse. She stated that the children thought these acts of sexual abuse to be natural as they never knew anything else, and that the accused showed no realisation of what he had done, as he afterward stated that the victims had asked for it. The children are currently in the care of the accused’s family while custody is being decided. . To page 2.
Every Tuesday
021 981 5535
Mad Prices @ Ranch Meat Brackenfell
(Open on Sundays 9-1)
Prices valid from Wednesday 22 Feb - Tuesday 28 Feb 2012
Pork Packs
31.98 per kg
Lamb Packs
52.98 per kg
Viennas
21.98 per kg
Russians
21.98 per kg
Ranch Wors
45.98 per kg
Beef & Ostrich Mince
36.98 per kg