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Senior government official charged with raping his niece

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A senior government official and choir manager at a prominent church in Gauteng appeared this week in the Pretoria Magistrates’ Court charged with raping his niece. He denies the charges.

‘It was on November 19 2017, when there was only the two of us in the house. I was playing outside when Papa called me to come play violin for him in the living room. He asked me to sit on his lap. Papa took off my panty and raped me. He then put a blanket on the floor and raped me again. He asked me if I was feeling pain, but even after I told him he didn’t stop; he continued to rape me. Afterwards, he bathed me and said I should not tell anyone.”

These are the words of an 11-year-old rape victim who told her mother a few weeks later, after she was raped by the man she trusted.

City Press cannot name the mother to protect the minor’s identity. Her mother says her daughter remembers the day very well because she has penned it in her diary.

On Tuesday, a 56-year-old senior government official and choir manager at a prominent church in Gauteng appeared at the Pretoria Magistrates’ Court. He faces charges for raping his niece.

A director at the department of public service and administration, he is currently out on bail and will be back in court next month.

On Friday, the accused confirmed that he was facing rape charges but said he was not guilty.

However, City Press interviewed several people close to the matter this week. They confirmed that the child confessed to them that she was raped by the man, who is like a father to her.

On Thursday, Gauteng police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Lungelo Dlamini confirmed that a rape case was opened against the man at Mamelodi East police station.

According to the mother of the minor, her daughter only confessed to her a few weeks after she was raped because he had told her not to tell anyone.

She told City Press that the incident happened in 2017.

“One day she came home late and I shouted at her. She wept and said to me: ‘Mum, you don’t understand what I am going through. I was raped by a family member.’ She was telling me the news for the first time. I was stunned and did not know what to do. The first thing I did was to call my younger sister,” she explains, adding that the following day she took the child to the hospital and the doctor confirmed that there was penetration.

She says she did not open a case as she did not want to destroy her older sister’s marriage, as she is supporting them financially.

She kept it secret from her older sister, who has been married to the accused for more than 20 years.

It was a year later when the older sister found out from a family member that her husband had allegedly raped their niece. The mother of four, who also works for the government, has since pressed rape charges on behalf of the minor.

The wife confirmed she opened a case after she learnt that her husband had been accused of raping the child.

“I then took the child and went to open a case on her behalf. I told the police what the child had told me,” said the wife, adding that she did not want to comment further as the matter was before the court.

But a family member told City Press that they had kept the secret from the wife as they did not want to destroy her marriage.

“We were afraid because our older sister takes cares of everyone in the family. But somehow the truth has its way of coming out. This man has too many skeletons,” said the family member.

She added: “The sister was so disturbed when she heard the allegations for the first time. She confronted her husband, but he denied that he raped the child. This has divided the family as everyone respected and trusted him as he is a man of God and he raised many of us as his own children.”

The family member added that the older sister, who was the minor’s guardian at the time, was so disturbed when she heard the allegations for the first time that she immediately went to press charges on behalf of the minor.

“She was so enraged that she confronted her husband, but he denied raping the minor. He maintains his innocence,” claimed a family member.

She added that the minor was quiet for a long time as she feared for her life.

“To this day we are still in shock as the family. The man is always preaching the word of God and praying for people at church. This man has destroyed the child – the man she trusted, who is like a father to her.”

Another source close to the family said the man took advantage of his niece when she came to stay with them. Her mother was unemployed and he had to take care of both the minor and the mother financially.

“He uses his power to lure the innocent souls to sleep with him. It is a shame to take advantage of innocent souls who are financially depending on him,” said a family member.

“Now his family is blaming the wife on why she opened a case. They say this matter should have been resolved by both families,” she added.

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