Angella Johnson
SOON after the young couple moved into 75 Reitz Street with their three children, Daphne Kolesky knew these were no ordinary neighbours.
Within days teenage boys, some still in their school uniforms, started arriving in groups of three or four at the house in the quiet Potchefstroom suburb near the university, where FW de Klerk is chancellor.
They came in cars, on motorbikes, and occasionally even on their bicycles. Vehicles would park there throughout the night and loud music could be heard blaring from the single-storey house.
Behind the neat manicured front lawn with its pruned rose bushes and regal fir tree, Tinus Ruthven (28) and his wife Magdalena (23) were allegedly running a brothel frequented by 15- and 16-year-old schoolboys.
“I knew something was not quite right almost from the beginning,” said Kolesky.
A housewife and mother of two young children, she wondered why the Ruthven children were collected by their grandmother every day at about 5pm and returned early the next morning.
“I said to my husband either she’s working for an escort agency or she’s running a brothel. So it didn’t surprise me when I heard they had been arrested.”
She described the Ruthvens as loud, uncouth and troublesome neighbours. “They were always using dirty language and she loved to sunbathe naked in the back garden in full view of everyone. Frankly I’m glad to see the back of them after three months of hell.”
The scandal of the Ruthven’s alleged lifestyle has shattered this conservative heartland that prides itself on upholding Afrikaner family values.
Potchefstroom, founded by the Voortrekkers as their first town north of the Vaal River and once the capital of the original South African Republic, has been cast into the sleazy world of under-aged sex and promiscuity.
“You could say that the parents of every teenage boy in town is wondering whether their son has visited this house,” said Captain Louis Jacobs of the local SAPS.
“People are also asking themselves how could this happen here. And are there other houses of ill-repute still to be uncovered?” He explained that the police were alerted by an anxious mother who suspected that her son was a regular visitor to 75 Reitz Street.
The woman contacted a member of the Child Protection Unit last Friday night. When officers raided the house they found three under-aged boys, including the woman’s son, inside.
The next morning statements were taken from the three 15-year-old boys and three others aged 16. All said they had regularly paid between R180 and R200 for sex.
Police later arrested and charged Tinus Ruthven with pimping, and his wife with deeds of immorality against boys under 16. A 17-year-old girl was charged with deeds of immorality and prostitution.
The couple appeared in court on Monday and were denied bail. Their three children are being looked after by grandparents.
Captain Jacobs said police investigation has so far revealed that the couple have been operating this kind of business for over a year and may have had some teenage boys acting as procurers for them.
“We also know they did not just concentrate on teenagers but had customers of all ages.” Ten teenagers have given statements to the police about what they saw and did at the house.
It is the second time this year that the police have had to move in on illegal sex dealings in the town.
The Child Protection Unit said information in a black book found at the Ruthven’s house appears to link them to a local brothel that was closed by narcotics detectives a few months ago.
“What puzzles me is how these kids could afford to pay so much money for sex,” said Captain Jacobs. “When I was 15 I was happy just looking at the odd dirty magazine photo, but these days kids seems to want to get everything immediately.”