Johannesburg | Tuesday
SCORES of people including Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang gathered outside the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday to protest against the rape and abuse of children.
Two men will appear in the court later in the day in connection with the rape of a five-month-old baby girl in Joubert Park in the city’s centre over the weekend.
The protesters are calling for the denial of bail to the two suspects, aged 17 and 24.
Public and political anger grew steadily on Monday as more reports of brutality and child rape streamed in from the police, indicating another weekend of abuse.
Dozens of rapes were reported.
Leaders, including South Africa’s elder statesman Nelson Mandela, spoke out against the incidents and community and political groups everywhere were planning and holding protest action against the seemingly unending wave of atrocities.
In one of the most appalling incidents of the weekend, the Johannesburg mother of the five-month-old baby girl was arrested on charges of neglect and assault after her baby was raped.
Police representative Captain Lungelo Dlamini said she joined two men in custody who were arrested on Sunday for allegedly raping the girl.
He said there were allegations that the mother had been neglecting and assaulting the child ”for a while”.
The men, aged 17 and 24, were likely to be charged overnight on Monday and appear in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday, Dlamini’s colleague, Sergeant Amanda Roestoff said late on Monday afternoon.
She said the mother (24) was expected to appear in court on Wednesday.
The child was raped after her mother apparently left her alone inside a room in a disused cinema in Joubert Park on Saturday night.
The Johannesburg Hospital said the baby was in a stable condition on Monday.
The girl underwent surgery on Sunday to have her bowel bypassed so that the affected area did not get infected.
Meanwhile, two Soweto women were arrested on Monday in connection with child trafficking after police found a 10-month-old baby who was reported missing in Durban in September. Police representative Superintendent Norman Ponnusamy said a member of the community informed the police about the boy after she saw his picture on a television programme about missing people. The women were arrested at separate locations in Johannesburg. Ponnusamy said the child’s parents had not been traced yet and the baby was taken to a place of safety. The two women are expected to appear in court on Thursday. – Sapa