A 26-year old black woman who was allegedly raped by a white man in Ladybrand in 2022 feels let down by a Ladybrand Police Station based woman Investigating Officer.
The 26-year old whose name is known to Free State World said Mmabatho Siqwele who is handling her case has not being giving it serious attention and has not been updating her thoroughly with the developments.
According to the 26-year old, in 2022, she went to a new shop that was opened in Ladybrand and while looking around the shop, she was called by a security guard who told her that the Manager (also allegedly the owner of the store) wanted to see her.
The woman said the man asked her questions wanting to know who she was, if she is married and if she was working. The man allegedly promised to give the woman and her husband, jobs at his shop and asked her to exchange numbers with him.
While at home, the woman allegedly got a text message from the shop owner whose name is known to Free State World and told her to prepare her CV and that of her husband and promised to fetch her on Wednesday to start work.
“He whatsapped me, he told me that he was from Clocolan, not knowing that he is from Sasolburg. That Wednesday he told me to go to his shop which I walked to and when I arrived, he was not at the shop but he sent me a Whatsapp message saying I will be working at his house for 7 hours and I was supposed to earn R120 per hour,” said the woman.
She further added “He called me back and I went to his car and we went to his house, I was new in Ladybrand and didn’t know anyone. We went to his house where he instructed me to get in as I was told I will be working at his house.”
“He told me to be free and told me that people who work for him must do anything he wanted and I asked him what he meant by that. He offered me a drink of an alcohol beverage in a can and told me to drink it. After drinking the alcohol beverage I felt dizzy, and my body was in pain, my tongue swelled and I could not talk.” Said the woman.
She added that the man allegedly unbuttoned his trouser, touched her and threw her on the bed and she was too weak to do anything and the white man then raped her without protection and left her.
She opened a case at the Ladybrand Police Station which was assigned to Mmabatho Siqwele. The woman said because she doesn’t hail from Laydbrand, they returned to Thaba Nchu with her husband and was later told that the white man was granted bail and the woman was allegedly told to sign papers which she refused.
The woman said she was shocked to learn that the man was granted bail and whenever she enquired about the case at the police station, she was referred back to Siqwele and was further told that the man was given bail and the was nothing they could do.
She gave another statement which was allegedly meant to start the case afresh and added that she went multiple times to the police station trying to find Siqwele with no luck and when she found her, Siqwele allegedly told her that she was always “Beezy”.
The 26-year old woman said at one point when they found Siqwele with her husband, she showed them DNA results.
The woman alleges that Siqwele had results in her possession for sometime but didn’t inform her about them and allegedly told her that it wasn’t her responsibility to do so and she didn’t know where the white man was.
“I was told that I had to go to the prosecutor to be informed more about the DNA results but after some time, Siqwele told me that the prosecutor said I should not go to court as the prosecutor was busy.” Said the woman.
She added that she met the prosecutor and told her about her case and that she hasn’t even been called to appear in court. She added that her details were taken and they promised to allegedly revert back to her but have since been mute about the case.
Its alleged that the white man has returned to Sasolburg where he stays. The woman feels let down and didn’t get justice for what happened to her as Siqwele has been silent and allegedly doesn’t take her case seriously.
The woman’s husband who has been supporting her said they want justice and feel let down as Siqwele has allegedly blocked his numbers as they enquired about the case a lot.
Free State World is in possession of a call recording between the woman, her husband and allegedly Siqwele where Siqwele told them that she is not responsible for the perpetrator as he wasn’t her child and she is not supposed to know where he is. That was her response when the woman and the husband asked her why the man was not behind bars if she did her work.
The woman is calling for justice and her case to be taken seriously as Siqwele avoids her.
Police Reply
Police Spokesperson Warrant Officer Mophiring said the woman was “definitely” kept abreast of her case. He stated that the recent development is that on 20 March, the DNA were received from the Police laboratory and the docket has been taken to court for a decision.
Mophiring added that in terms of the South African constitution, every person has a right to apply for bail.
“In most rape cases, matters are provisionally withdrawn because investigating officers and courts awaits DNA results. The suspect would be called and docked enrolled back to court to face their judgment.” Mophiring explained.
However, he did not state if victims are made aware of the provisional withdrawal and how long it takes for DNA results to be confirmed.
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