Mamokgethi Malebane was one of numerous rape victims who have been betrayed by the system, writes Gustav Thiel
ON the day of the school memorial service this week for seven-year-old rape and murder victim Mamo-kgethi Malebane, the agency which first raised the alarm about her unveiled a string of similar cases – young children, raped, molested and abused, and then failed by the justice system.
The Katlehong schoolgirl’s case, first reported in May, prompted a flurry of activity among police and politicians as the story swept across the media. Justice Minister Dullah Omar this week pinned his drive to tighten bail laws to the tale, telling Mamokgethi’s family on Wednesday that his efforts would prevent similar tragedies.
But the case studies released by the Johannesburg-based Child Abuse Alliance, all ongoing, paint a depressing picture of systematic official failure to protect vulnerable children, or act against their abusers. As with Mamokgethi Malebane, the tormentors in these cases have all been charged, granted bail and set free to continue their abuse.
Mamokgethi was allegedly raped by Dan Mabote in 1996. He appeared in court on November 14 and was released on R2 000 bail. He again appeared in court on May 29 this year and was again released on bail, although the magistrate was told that Mamokgethi had disappeared. On July 22 the little girl’s body was found in a shallow grave, with her hands tied behind her back, on the East Rand.
From January to March this year, 9 376 cases of abuse were reported to the child protection unit of the South African Police Services – up 40% on last year. One case involves a three-year-old girl in Soweto repeatedly raped by her father in their one-bedroom house. A Childline representative – the organisation that works closely with the Child Abuse Alliance – told the Mail & Guardian about the desperate efforts of the mother to protect her little girl from the father’s continued raping. The father appeared in court in April – and was released unconditionally after the magistrate decided the girl was too young to testify against him.
Merryl Kantor of the Child Abuse Alliance can instantly recall many similar stories.
In April, she was asked by a relative to intervene to stop a father harassing his 11-year-old daughter after he had been found guilty of raping her since she was seven. Although convicted on May 8 last year, the father has yet to be sentenced and is out on bail. Kantor says the father continually follows his daughter in his car, telephones her at home and writes threatening letters. The child’s psychologist says she cannot face another trial.
The trial has been postponed, says Kantor, due to internal bungling at the magistrate’s court. “The first magistrate died and the second magistrate wanted all evidence transferred from tape to documentation. Evidence then went missing and various advocates were given the entire case for opinion – whether to reconstruct evidence from witnesses’ reports or go to a retrial. The family is now advised that the case must go to the high court for a decision.”
A distraught family from Alberton contacted the M&G this week to add their story to the saga of “secondary abuse” – as many describe it – of battered children by the justice system. They say media coverage is the only option left to them after discovering the biological father of two girls had been raping them for the past 10 years.
The mother says her two daughters are now 20 and 14 years old respectively, and although they are very strong, will always carry the emotional scars of their father’s abuse. “We only discovered the nature of the abuse earlier this year. The father has been charged, but he is out on bail and living with his mother. He threatens the kids, which is ridiculous given what he has done.”
The mother and her new husband have joined a support group for the parents of child abuse victims. But she says she has lost all faith in the authorities to protect vulnerable and innocent children: “I just don’t believe people like Dullah Omar anymore when they say things will change. They only make political speeches.”
After Mamokgethi Malebane’s funeral this week, Omar promised new draft legislation aimed at putting bail beyond the reach of suspects accused of serious crimes. He said this was “intended to prevent a repeat of the Momokgethi tragedy”. Such proposals have, however, been around for two years.
Omar said Malebane’s death highlighted the need for tightening bail conditions – which is much what he was saying two years ago when he called for “a coherent prosecutorial policy regarding sexual offences”, to include more stringent bail conditions.
The Minister of Welfare and Population Development, Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi, told the M&G that political speeches and promises had “for years” failed victims of child abuse.
“I am a Cabinet minister and must remain optimistic about the power we have to change the situation. I am aware the police and courts are heavily overburdened, but this is no excuse. Until we have a system in place whereby we can prevent Mamokgethi Malebane’s sad story and other similar ones, all people working in the courts, the police and welfare people must simply work much harder to ensure success.”